AU Confronting the Future
by vildtiger
Summary: Sequel to Facing the Past. When Mike and the other humans at Freddy's hear it is possible for the spirits of the animatronics to return, they jump to the chance. but things are often too good to be truth for the two capable bringing the spirits back are hunted by a black spirit. so if they want their friends back, they have to confront this monster, together.
1. Chapter 1

**you asked for it and I delivered!  
this is Confronting the Future, the sequel to Facing the Past.  
to everyone who has been waiting for this: are you ready for a new adventure?! and to those who yet haven't read the first story. I suggest you leave this fanfiction for now and read "Facing the Past" first. otherwise this story won't make any sense. **  
**with that settled, like Facing the Past the chapters will be somewhat short as I prefer keeping the the same writing style as the last one. and like always, I will reply on the comments I get.**

 **so to Dinovictor: it's nice to see a fellow country comrade, has to deal I speak English to you as most of my readers are from there. I listned to the song and will see if I can find a good place for it to this story.**

 **to Dragon of the Eclipsing Moon (good god that's a mouthful of a username) perhaps, but that part I am not planning on doing, sorry.**

 **to AlexaMarrinDaughterofPoseidon (again a mouthful, and hi again) we will see the Crying Child, and I am sure I don't have to remind you, but I will to newcomers: I will not follow the games lore, so don't get mad if I completely changes certain plots you know from the games.**

 **now, let's get started. enjoy the story.**

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It's the middle of summer; a couple of months the leaves will turn red and fall with the autumn taking over the country. But for many, that feels like a long time, and for those it doesn't, well they will spend as much time enjoying the remaining warm days outside. The people holding this midsummer party heads over to a huge bonfire and start it, declaring to the children and those adults who would like it that in an hour or so, there should be embers to make bread on a stick and even roasted marshmallows if feeling up to it.

One of the people who is enjoying this summer party is a man with the name of Mike Schmidt, one of the new owners of the only remaining building of Freddy's restaurant. The business has been gone quite slow with the... departure of his friends. And yes, Mike still grieve with the loss, but he's refusing to let it make him stop living. He knows his friends wouldn't have that and he's sure that if they somehow still around in the spiritual realm- watching him from that plane, then they will be relieved to know he's not fallen into a deep depression like the last time he lost them. Sometimes he does break down in tears, the hole in his chest opens, but every time that happens; he has people around him to help him back up and the hole heals faster a bit quicker every time.

Losing loved ones sucks, yes, Mike's knows that far too well, but he has also learned that hanging onto the past as if there's no tomorrow won't do anything good. Instead, the person has to look forward and see the people- the loved ones still around and enjoy the time with them.

Mike turns his gaze to the family holding this midsummer party, the family there took him in when he lost his own parents: the Legrand family.

Mrs. Legrand walks over to him and hands him a soda, asking with that worry only a mother can have. "How are you feeling Mike?"

Mike and Rena agreed that it would be best if Mr- and Mrs. Legrand doesn't know about what truly happened to Sean, for starters Mike doubts they will believe him, heck Rena barely believed him! She only did when both Jeremy and Scott told her that his words had been the honest truth. And Rena doesn't want to shatter her parent's hearts knowing that their son is gone yet again, best they continue thinking he's been dead for nineteen years. Instead, they told the parents of Rena and Sean that Mike has lost his roommate to the same killer and almost got killed himself, but succeed getting away and the killer of their son is finally gone. He told them the killer died during the struggle, for again, he highly doubts they will believe him if he told them that a possessed puppet killed the man.

Taking the soda, Mike replies Mrs. Legrand. "I'm getting better, still not ready for a new roommate though..." Although it would've made his life perhaps a bit more comfortable. He's currently living at Freddy's because all the apartments he has his eyes on are too expensive for the income he's getting lately. So having a roommate sharing the rent would've been nice. But he's not ready and he's not even sure if Steve's spirit has moved on, Goldie did mention that Steve has been hanging around him and a good thing too. Without his former roommate, then Vincent surely would've succeeded in killing him...

It's a bit strange, thinking about dead people still hanging around. Detective Williams is right, he and the two others have been around too much supernatural since they all now just take it in stride.

Mrs. Legrand squeezes his shoulder gently. "Of course, and if you need anything."

"You really don't have to-"

"Mike, you're like family to us and..." She gestures to him finishes the sentence. Mike resists the urge rolling his eyes and says with a weak smile. "Family helps one another. I know." Friends do too. His friends sure beat that fact into him, especially Jeremy. That man might complain a lot but if Mike asks for help, then the scarred blond is the first ready to give him a hand.

Like Mike, Jeremy is also dealing with the loss of his brother, taking way harder though. Mike thinks it's because he and Spring were twins, have heard twins share a unique form of bond and after having watched the chaotic yet somehow also very in tune relationship between those two shared, well Mike believes it. "I'll make sure give you a call if anything comes up." He ensures her.

Mrs. Legrand nods before takes him over to the big fire where Mr. Legrand is helping the younger children getting the dough properly on their sticks. "Good, how's the job going for you? Hear from Rena you're struggling a bit."

"Yeah, after the sabotage of the animatronics, we haven't been able to fully repair them." Mike explains somberly, just thinking about what's is causing the robots at Freddy's to no longer to be interactive like before still makes his chest hurt. "and it's not going better after that new restaurant with animatronics is butting their way into the business. The only good thing I can say that Freddy's has many loyal customers."

"Can't your mechanic not fix the animatronics?" Mrs. Legrand asks him, she might not have any interest in the restaurant in itself, but she does want the best for her child and the friend of her son.

Mike fiddles a bit with the soda can. "Thomas is really good but he is lacking a proper education and even though we can hire another one we are hesitant hiring any mechanic, new guy might end up doing more harm than good." And that's the last thing they want.

"I see." Mrs. Legrand muses, understanding a bit better now the issues the place is dealing with. "But I am sure you'll figure something out eventually."

Mike simply nods as responses.

Mrs. Legrand leaves him to chat a bit with her cousins and Mike heads over to Rena who is currently helping one of the kids with their bread on the stick; it has gotten a bit black.

"I think it got enough on that side." Mike smiles and the kid turns the bread sheepishly, Rena turns her attention to her friend, giving him a smile. "You seem to have a good time."

He nods and takes a seat beside her, letting the kid sit on his lap. "I can see where you got your skills of party planning." For this party has a certain warmth to it and he is not talking about the fire.

Rena giggles. "Aw~ thank you." Nodding towards where her father is currently speaking with some of his co-workers. "I asked dad for some new recipes the cooks could try and make for the restaurant, might earn us some more customers." Figures they have to try that since they don't have her brother or the other robots to aid them on that part.

"It sure will- you have to turn it now." Mike tells the kid softly before turning back to Rena again. "Maybe a Halloween themed month would spice things up. Since well..." the smile drops instantly. "... You know." Last Halloween the restaurant has been trying to earn money to repair the animatronics and also keep the place going just a bit longer. It has also been the day where Vincent tried to kill him but failed when Marion killed him first which caused the release of every animatronics soul.

"...I know." Rena muses somberly, she too misses her brother terribly and is sure this Halloween will be hard as that also marks it has been a year since the departure of the spirits possessing the animatronics. And still, she's happy Mike is trying to move past that fact and look towards the future- something he hasn't been able to before he got reunited with his friends again. "I'm sure I can make the robots sing a few songs, and maybe Scott and Thomas can help to dress them spooky."

"I can help with the decorations." Mike suggests, adding with a proud smirk. "Pretty good carving pumpkins if I say so myself."

"I wanna carve pumpkins too." The kid says, making the two young adults chuckle and Rena tells them with a smile. "Visit Freddy's in September and we will have a pumpkin for you."

"Okay!" The child beams and returns back to the bread. Mike makes them remove it from the embers when it starts to look ready. "Wait a moment before you grab it." He suggests and empties his soda. He is about to get up, but Rena stops him, saying: "I'll go get one to us both."

"Alright." and she leaves. Mike helps the child getting the bread off the stick and the child runs over to their parents, leaving Mike on his own near the fire. And yet it does not take long before both Rena and her boyfriend Jess join him. He takes the soda from Rena. "Thanks." and turns to the blond when Jess asks slightly mocking yet teasing tone. "You seriously don't want a beer?"

"No, don't like the taste." Mike replies and opens the can. He and Jess's 'relationship' has improved over the months, but Mike still has the feeling that Jess considers him a threat against his and Rena's relationship. Mike does his best ignoring it, he's not stupid or rude enough to even try to make a move when Rena has someone else.

Besides, he has accepted that he and Rena are not meant to be, and he's fine with them just being friends.

Jess opens his can of beer, asking. "So what do you drink when you wanna get wasted?"

Rena rolls her eyes. "Jess, I and Mike have a job tomorrow, none of us wants to deal with a hangover."

"Sure, sure." The blond nods, now seeing why none of them has grabbed anything with alcohol inside, but he is still curious what Rena's so-called 'friend-zoned' friend does drink when he can allow himself it. "What do you prefer when you do drink?"

"Hm, I do like Henry's hard soda." Mike replies and takes a sip of his soda. "and a few drinks you can get at a bar."

"Mike you're such a girl!" Jess laughs.

Mike sends him a look, annoyed by this one's attitude against him but not going to get angry; he has dealt with bigger jerks than Jess, one of them was a purple rabbit. "If you say so." and turns back to watch the fire, if Jess thinks that he will try and defend himself of being called a girl, he is greatly mistaken. He is not the kind of guy who gets offended when being mocked he is not 'manly' enough.

Jess raises a brow at the lack of reaction from the other male, he had hoped Mike would've at least tried to deny this small insults and engage into a friendly spat. Sure Jess doesn't really fancy Mike, but he will at least try to get to know the brunette for Rena's sake. It's clear the two of them are close. But, much to Jess irritation: Mike doesn't respond like the rest of his friends does when he is playfully mocking them. So keeping decent conversations to this one and getting a better read on him is hard. So with this failed attempt, Jess turns his attention to Rena. "Hey, have you thought about my offer next week?"

Rena smiles. "Yes, I will come, but don't expect I will stay all night, alright?"

"Sure, you leave whenever you feel like babe."

Mike only listens with a half ear to this point, his interest for whatever party Jess and Rena will go to next week is quickly fading. Sure Mike doesn't mind parties, but he prefers those they are making at Freddy's, where he only has to deal with overly excited children instead of too drunk people who don't know what they are doing half the time. Maybe one day he will feel more up to these so-called adult parties, but he highly doubts it. This midsummer party is the closest he can come to such.

"Hey Mike, wanna join us?" Rena asks, she's only mildly disappointed when he politely declines the offer. She knows he's not good dealing with such parties, but still worth the try.

At sundown, Mike feels it's time to head back and tells everyone goodbye. Rena decides to go home as well, of course, Jess is following her back. Mike try not think too much about it. He waves goodbye to the pair and drives back to Freddy's, the place has become a second home to him with all the time he spends here before his friends left. After have locked his scooter, Mike walks inside the restaurant, glancing up to Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, all three standing like they always do when this place is closed. But for some weird reason, sometimes one of them will glitch and suddenly stand as if the show is about to start. Sometimes the glitching makes them stop moving for a moment and that's bad when it happens in the middle of a show. Poor Thomas and Rena are working overtime figuring out what's caused such glitching. Rena fears the virus is still in them, but even she admits it doesn't make sense why Chica, Foxy and Spring also glitch. The only animatronics not glitching are the Toys, so they have the spotlight a bit more than the rest lately. Mike is sure the kids would've been happy knowing their once bodies have gotten their own little fan-base.

Glancing up to the three on the stage, it seems Bonnie has gone through some glitching, his ears are down and those now empty eyes open. Mike sights and jumps onto the scene to return the rabbit into sleep mode again. Can't have he run out of battery under tomorrow's show. He opens the back panel to the mainframe and restarts the system, commanding the robot to turn itself off again. The rabbit returns back to the sleeping stage and Mike leaves the scene, heading over to the cove to check if Foxy has been glitching as well today, fortunately, he hasn't, so Mike heads over to the place where the golden ones are. He sighs and returns Goldie into sleep mode again, of all the animatronics glitching; Goldie is the one doing it the most, yet for some weird reason; it never happens when the show is on.

With the animatronics checked, Mike heads downstairs to sleep. 

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**keep an eye out this Wednesday and the nexts in the future, that is the day I am planning on submitting a chapter to this story.**  
 **as always, suggestions such as songs, wishes to what could happen in future chapters are very welcome.**

 **took a while but something I truly needed to get a grasp on just a legit plot.**  
 **it's good to be back.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am very happy to see that a lot of you are excited about this story. it's nice knowing that even after a year of waiting, you are still interested in following this series. now, like Facing the Past, there will be parts of where we follow others, except this time it won't be flashes from the past but the future instead.**

 **enjoy the story!**

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 _When sure she's asleep, he heads out to get the stuff they desperately needed to stay alive. Before leaving he blocks the entrance to the room she sleeps inside, and carefully leaves the abandoned factory they have called home all summer. When out from the area, he starts running, not slowing down for a second, leaving her behind was risky and he has no wish in leaving her without protection more than needed. His sprinting only got to a sudden halt when he found what he was looking for; and after have ensured the alarm wouldn't activate, he unlocks the back door and sneaks inside the closed mall. Scanning the ceilings for camera's he freezes up a second when spotting one, currently filming him. Fortunately, that one is quickly taken care off and he swiftly grabs the stuff they need. He leaves the mall with two large bags filled with food in hand, along with a knapsack filled with clothing, hygiene and possible things he could sell in order to get money for transport. As carefully as he left, he checks the area several times before he even dared to approach the room. When sure the coast was clear, he trots inside, put down the two bags and knapsack. Out from the knapsack, he pulls out a jacket he thought would be for her. This jacket he lies over her, for even though if she wouldn't like it, it would at least make the colder nights bearable._

 _With his priority ensured, he starts to attend his own health, removing his own jacket, a large wound can be seen and it is horrible. An infection has started to go in but he can't risk going to a hospital, so cleaning it with the alcohol he stole and replaces the bandage with a new one has to do. He only needs to stay alive long enough to ensure her safety anyway. He stops midway in cleaning his wound, sensing they are no longer alone. Turning around he spots the newcomer, and although it's a white one, he does not trust anything, let it be alive or dead. Swiftly he grabs his weapon in form of a pipe with a thin rope having salt rocks attached wrapped around the metal, and strike out after the intruder._

 _The intruder proves to be the stronger kind as his attack only startled it from feeling pain again and is aware enough to dodge his second attack,_

 _Appearing again, now in a safer distance 'you need help' the intruder tells him in a matter of fact._

 _He glares at this spirit and had to resist the urge coming with the remark that this spirit said the obvious. Yes, he and his young companion really need help, but after what happened last time, he just does not trust people to keep them safe. Spirits are very close to being in the same category as they can tell their hunter their location in a matter of seconds. "No one can help." He whispers to this- for once friendly spirit. "Last person we sought help from almost killed us." They were lucky he has a high pain resistance and needs way more beating to stay down. But if their former guardian finds them again, then there is a great chance she will finish the job. "The hunter will use them against us, it won't stop." He has never seen anything like that before, so how to fight that monster... he has no idea and that... that scares him._

 _'I and my friends can offer you protection. If you help us with a wish of ours.' This white spirit replies._

 _Light spirits usually do not consider making a bargain and with this one doing it makes him wary. "What is it you want?" he asks it suspiciously._

 _The spirit smiles. 'A second chance'_

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About seven in the morning, one of the owners of Freddy's walks inside the restaurant, removing his fleece jacket, but he did not remove the black cap. All he did, is correcting it properly over his blond hair before going over to the office. Turning on the computer and while checking the schedule the third owner made yesterday before going on his small and much-needed vacation.

Jeremy's green eyes scan the notes quickly and see a few of them needs updating. He takes a seat and after have thrown a few salted peanuts into his mouth, the blond starts writing, only stopping for a moment of the sound of a door getting open. He glances up but the moment he sees who it is, he returns back to work. "Have you checked on our stock lately?" He calls out to the soon to be filled dining hall.

"I will check after I have eaten." Mike replies in a drowsy tone.

Jeremy can't help but smirk at this, it is clear the young man just has woken up.

"How late did you go to bed?"

He only gets the reply after Mike has grabbed a few buns with butter on and takes a seat at the office table. "It wasn't really that late, about ten maybe." Mike takes a bite of his breakfast, musing mostly to himself after have swallowed. "I had another dream, like one of those Marion gave me."

The catches Jeremy's attention, he has only tried going through one of these ghost visions once, when Marion (at least he thinks it was that puppet) forced him to realize that there was more to the animatronics than he first thought and one step closer to who Spring really was... just thinking about his brother makes his chest feels like someone is trying to tear out his heart. But back to the matter at hand. "What was it about?" He looks up from the computer screen when Mike starts to chuckle.

"It was about a fight on a ship inside an insane wild but epic storm."

"Sounds like something Foxy could come up with."

Mike laughs again, this time in a sadder tone. "...Yeah." He glances to the cove where Daniel's once robot body is. "I wonder if it had been Daniel who gave me that vision or it's just my own imagination."

Saving on the updated notes on the computer. "Didn't you just say it felt like one of the visions?" After all, Mike has gotten a sort of sixth sense when it comes to these visions giving by the deceased.

Mike turns back to the blond with a small frown on his face. "Yes, and from how it felt I am very certain it was a ghost vision, but..." He drops his head with a sigh. "Part of me wonders if I am really just imagining that my friends have found a way to communicate with me..."

"So you fear you are fooling yourself to believe your dreams are coming from your friends." Jeremy muses in a soft statement, he must admit that he too wishes for a sign their family and friends still are hanging around the restaurant. It will be a sort of a bittersweet knowledge, but one he is more than happy to accept. Knowing Martin is still nearby is sort of a soothing thought, gives all the sensation of someone's hand on his shoulder, phantom words of teasing- all of it would've been from Martin reaching out to him.

"I can't deny that I too hope they are still around." He tells the younger man before he gets up from the chair, reminding his fellow co-worker. "But whatever they are here or not, we still have a restaurant to run."

Smiling Mike gets up from his chair as well, following the blond out to the dining hall. "Of course." and heads to the storage room to see if there is something they need to order.

Jeremy heads over to the game room, halting only for a second when he notices that Goldie once again has glitched out since the golden bear's eyes are open. Yet Jeremy just can't shake off the weirdness in that the glitched animatronics gets expression as if struggling or out of sadness and determination. He walks over to the two gold colored animatronics, reaches out to turn them into their entertaining mode. Spring starts spewing out lines Jeremy gave Rena in his thought what Martin would've said during the performance. He stares at the hare but even when Spring looks at him, he sees no sign of a soul in those empty ice blue eyes.

Jeremy still remembers how he once told Spring not to be like his brother, back then Spring couldn't because Martin's soul dictated his every move and thought. Now Spring is purely himself: a mindless robot, not a single thought from Martin, so in a twisted sense of irony: he got his wish. "A wish I now truly wants to be undone." He muses up to the robot before turning over to Goldie. He reaches over to the mainframe to put him into performance mode, but just as he is about to open up the hidden hatch. Goldie's eyes move and look straight at him.

The blond freezes, returning the gaze with the golden bear and realize that Goldie's eyes aren't empty, there is a special glow in them- there is life! "Holy shit." He gasps at this realization.

The golden bear's eyes twitch once to Jeremy's hovering hand over the mainframe, Jeremy drops it and Goldie smiles. That is the last straw and Jeremy starts yelling through the whole restaurant. "Mike! Mike get your ass over here right fucking now!"

Sensing this is serious, Mike drops what he is doing and runs into the game room, trotting over to Jeremy who is staring with eyes wide of shock at Goldie. "What is it?"

Jeremy turns to him. "Goldie is back."

Takes him a moment to get his voice under control again. "...What?" Mike gasps and trots over to the golden bear and jumps when Goldie turns slowly his head over to him, giving him that well-known smile of his, one neither Rena nor Thomas could program the robot to copy. So seeing this and the life in those red eyes again, it blows Mike away.

"Goldie." He smiles back, having a very hard time of not crying from the joy that one of them has returned.

"It's been long." Goldie greets back in his deep voice. Turning to Jeremy there asks maybe a bit too eager. "What about the others?"

Goldie eyes the robot beside him, frowning slightly. "The so-called glitching is them trying to return. But," turning back to the two humans. "they do not have the strength nor knowledge to possess them properly. Even with all my powers, I have trouble staying in this body. I did try to show the others how to do it but it's hard to teach someone with no ability to form new memories, they will stop trying eventually."

"So they will stop trying coming back?" Mike asks, not sure how to feel that his friends might soon give up and accept that there is no coming back.

Goldie nods, but this is not why he chose to put his grown powers to the test and re-possess his old body. "If you truly want them back, I have heard of someone who might be able to help."

Both men straighten up from this, full attention on the animatronic. "Who Goldie?" Mike asks, with Jeremy asking. "Have you been eavesdropping from the other side?"

Goldie chuckles softly. "You will be surprised how chatty 'the other side' is. There is a rumor going around there are two Mediums— it's a person able to see the other side and manipulate it to a certain degree." He quickly explains the two humans. They nod they got it and Goldie continues what he has heard from the other and more aware spirits. "According to rumors, one of them is stronger than most and is currently roaming around the area. I think Marion was that kind of Medium too."

Mike blinks hearing this. "There are more like Marion out there?" He asks and tries not, but cannot stop hoping that there is a chance for his friends to come back.

Goldie tries to move the rest of his body but eventually gives up, he hasn't enough strength or knowledge for a full body possession. "According to the ghost rumors, yes." Eyeing the two humans. "If you wish I can seek them out and hear if they perhaps can do the same thing Marion did to us in the start. Might be tricky though, what we are asking isn't exactly normal and I am very sure these two are dealing with a lot of demanding spirits."

Jeremy has a strong feeling what Goldie is asking of them, if these two people have been dealing with the spirit world from day one, having to listen to every single spirit moaning at them for whatever unfinished business they have. Yes, he can see that Goldie's request might be ignored. "See what you can do, Calem." He tells Goldie, adding both to him but also to himself and Mike. "If they say no, then we have to accept this is how it is." No matter how much he wants the others to return.

Goldie nods and with: "I will return when I manage to get a hold on them." And the bear slowly slumps over, the life in the eyes is gone once again. The two men hesitated for about three seconds but when sure Goldie has left the robot, Jeremy activates the golden bear into the entertaining mode, turning to Mike there remarks dryly. "Well, not exactly how I planned my day, but I take it."

Jeremy smirks as response and the two heads over to the locker rooms, returning just as the cooks and waitress's starts to arrive for work.

Like most other days at work, Jeremy and Mike will keep an watch for all their patrons safety in their duty as security.

Past midday, Rena and Thomas arrive to work, Jeremy and Mike quietly discussed if the two should know of what happed this morning. They comes to the agreement that they will tell Rena, but will wait with Thomas since Jeremy did not want to give Martin's son false hopes of his father's return. With the last guests dropping out and the cleaning crew washing up for today, Mike drags Rena outside and tells her about Goldie's unexspected return and what the golden bear had told them.

Rena reaction is as expected, she's shocked but also excited that there is a way for her brother to come back, yet will try and not get her hopes up too much. And then there are the souls of the said animatronics trying to repossess the robots. "Well, now we know what is causing the strange glitching." Rena says, and that gives her one less thing to worry about the animatronics. "Which means I don't have to work my butt off trying to figure out what malfunction is causing it."

Mike nods, also glad they have gotten the answer for what they have been calling glitching. "It does make sense why Bonnie is the one glitching out the most; he has always been a stubborn bastard."

Rena giggles at his mocking remark to one of his friends, the smile drops slightly as her eyes lands on Freddy. The brown bear looks like it has been trying to look at them before slumping over, has Sean been trying to possess Freddy just now? It breaks her heart knowing that her brother is trying but cannot come back on his own. "These two people Goldie spoke about," Mike eyes her questioning and she expands her question. "what's so special about them?"

"Goldie said they are... they're like Marion."

Rena blinks, fortunately, Mike explains to her what made Marion different from the others. "He has been the one who trapped the souls inside the animatronics in the first place. His powers where what kept the others inside the robots so when he left the world, the souls got released from their vessels."

"But it's clear they don't want to leave their vessels." Rena argues, gesturing to the three on the scene with Freddy have gone through the so called glitching. "They want to stay, so why didn't Marion allows them?"

Mike sigh, "Well... that's the sad thing about Marion... he couldn't feel any emotions. Only a cold logic existed inside him. And he was set on getting free, nothing else mattered."

"Not even us?"

Eyeing her, sadness but also accepted that was just how Marion was, it' not like the puppet asked for it. "Not even us."

Rena narrows her eyes, she knew something bad was with that puppet. "What a heartless bastard."

"Don't blame it on him." Mike argues softly, he will admit a lot of what Marion has done is unacceptable, and he hates repeating some of Vincent's words but... unfortunately, it suits the puppet. "He died in a very young age, his morality already twisted, and with his emotions removed... well, you'll end up with a being with very little respect or sympathy for others." All Marion ever wanted to be free from the prison his family forced him into, so it's no wonder why Marion had refused to return like the others as the puppet is the only animatronic there never showed any sign of glitching.

Rena nods slowly, still not liking this but she can at least understand a bit why Marion haven't tried to let the animatronics come back, it's not like he could care for what they want.

"We better see if the others need any help." Mike suggests, snapping Rena out from her thoughts. She nods and the two heads inside the restaurant, helping the other employees in cleaning the building and doing their best not telling the very annoyed Thomas why the robots keep snapping out from their standby mode.

* * *

 ***claps Thomas on the shoulder* I feel your pain, not knowing what causing the problem in a computer is a pain in the neck**

 **Thomas: *frowns***

 **oh, sorry wrong choice of words.**

 **Thomas: *waves and leaves***

 **agree, see you next week folks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Mike: *walks into my room* hey Vildtiger can you-**

 ***buried under all the reviews and current work***

 **Mike: uhhh... never mind. what about I help you with some of these?**  
 **so to Girl301, joshua and the guest: it's good to be back as well. you has to wait for possible new crossover for um... *looks at the pile* yeah, best to wait a little. alright, what about this one?  
** ***takes another review from the pile* okay, to antoniodjones123: it's nice to know what caused the glitching. saves Rena and Thomas a lot of work. but I do wish they could speak to us. only time will tell if the two Mediums Goldie spoke about are legit. *takes another review* and to GameFan 335: yeah, it's nice to see Goldie again, I agree on that. *checks the clock* snap, I have to leave for work, so this is the last, to Girl301: the boy from the Ghostbuster story never got and never will get a name. so if he is the same, that's any guess.**

 ***jumps out from the pile* enjoy the story folks!**

 **Mike: argh!**

* * *

Two weeks have passed and the three humans haven't heard any news from Goldie which is worrying, but Jeremy; really taking the role as the steadfast owner of Freddy's, ensures Mike and Rena that Goldie will return when he is ready. "I can image that possession is an exhausting business." He remarks before heading over to the kitchen, one of the cooks had asked for one of the owner's opinions on a new idea which he is unsure they should take.

Mike and Rena look at one another, both thinking the older blond might be onto something. Does also explains why only Goldie could come back and not just glitch out like the rest does. So they merely have to wait and while doing so, they continue on their work.

Mike heads over to the game room, he passes Thomas who is busy repairing one of the arcade games that has gotten quite the beating from an angry gamer. "How bad is it?" He asks the old teen.

Thomas turns and swings his hand up and down in his way saying that it's tricky but nothing he can't handle. Mike nods, relieved that this isn't a big issue and they have a good mechanic like Thomas. "That's good to hear," adding from how Thomas is giving the Toys an annoyed frown. "Don't worry about the animatronics glitching. We will figure it out in time."

Thomas nods slowly and returns back to work.

Mike leaves him to it and slowly walks his round inside the restaurant, making sure no one is doing anything stupid or causing a ruckus there will ruin the mood for the rest.

Passing by the book corner, Mike notices something strange out the corner of his eye. He turns and realizes that what caught his anttention has been a ghostly white figure beside Goldie. The ghostly figure disappears and Goldie lifts his head, looking Mike with life once again back in his red eyes. Mike walks over to the once again sentient robot, of course, he's happy seeing the bear back again, but his joy is getting overridden by the huge surprise of what he had just seen what was beside the bear moments ago. "I saw your ghost right before you possessed the body." He whispers to Goldie so no one would notice he is talking to a robot.

The golden bear smirks. "I had hoped you could, always wondered why people claim they have seen a ghost. Now I know why so many do it. It is really easy appearing like that." Goldie does wonder if he can use this to communicate with them better in the future.

Mike can't help but laugh softly at this, typical Goldie figuring new and often funny tricks with his powers. "You think the others can do it?"

Goldie nods. "I am sure, but I am hesitant showing them. The others really don't know when the timing of coming back is impropriating. Can't have they scare your customers away."

Yes, Goldie did mention something about the others don't have a clear sense of what is going on around them. "How aware are the others?"

"As aware you are when you sleep."

Oh, alright, a bit of a pity but nothing he can change. Anyway, back to what Goldie asked about the last time he was around. "Any news?"

Goldie nods again. "Yes, I found their current location and spoke with them. The oldest of the two— a young teenager boy was very reluctant, but I and his— I think it's his sister managed to persuade him. I will guide them here, so don't expect to see to me for a while." He eyes Mike with a faint smile, clear dictation what he is talking about.

Mike rolls his eyes, smiling at the inside joke that he has also been guided by Goldie, except that was by a dream.

"What do they want in return?" He asks the golden bear.

"A place to live really." Goldie replies, from what he gathered from those two, they do not have any parents or someone to live with. He's not sure if they were forced into this situation or they did this by their own account. Anyway, that teen boy only agreed when he explained that Freddy's is a hotspot for light spirits. "It seems they are running from something. My guess is a person. The boy is wounded but he's too afraid to get it looked at by a professional."

That's not good. From what Goldie is telling him, that boy might drop dead in a matter of time. "Is there anything we can do to help?" He asks but Goldie shakes his head, musing. "No, the boy is really wary of people. The only reason he heard me out is that I'm what he calls an 'aware light spirit'. If I have been dark then he wouldn't have even considered hearing me out and I do not blame him."

Hearing the word dark spirit, Mike thinks of two he has encountered, one of them has scarred him for life. "When you say dark spirit, do you mean like the one calling itself Nightmare?" Mike asks and really hopes he never is going to see that monster again.

Goldie nods, like Mike he hopes he never is going to see that mass of dark spirits again, does not matter if his powers stem from that thing. "Yes, but Nightmare was a rare form of a dark spirit. That one was several spirits melted into one. Anyway, they would like to stay here for a while— that is alright with you, right?" He asks, for it is much to asks but this is their only choice to come back again.

And Mike realizes that as well. If this choice has solely been on him, he would've said yes, no question asked. But he can't for since the departure of Sean; he, Jeremy and Scott have become the owners of Freddy's which meant they all have to agree on something before any choice can be made. "I need to speak with Jeremy and Scott about this." He tells the golden bear, adding with a weak smile. "Might take a while, Scott won't be back before Thursday."

That's understandable, Goldie can accept that all three need to agree on this. "Alright, I will stick around and hear what your decision is." Mike nods and Goldie leaves the robot body, doing this takes a lot out from him.

With the only spirit able to communicate with them this way is gone again, Mike reactivates the animatronic and returns back to his duty as one of the CEO's of Freddy's.

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"Miav~"

Mike pushes the fully grown and big cat of the Toys away before Molly tries to suffocate him with her silly habit lying on his head. "I'm up, I'm up." He yawns and gets up from the bed, doing his best not tripping over the cat as she keeps walking right before his feet while miaving for food. He gives it the food, pets her a bit before dressing up and heads upstairs to the dining room.

He finds that Scott is already here and greets the older man before heading to the kitchen for some much-needed breakfast.

Returning with a bun in hand, he asks the first man to know about the animatronics once sentience. "How was the vacation?"

Scott chuckles. "It was nice to relax at a beach, not worrying about anything than sunburn." He walks over to put the three on the stage into entertaining mode. "But I am glad to be back again."

Mike laughs lightly at that last comment, he can see why Jeremy sometimes jokes he and Scott are related from how both love working here to such an extent that they aren't really thinking about going on vacation. Scott only went because Jeremy figuratively speaking kicked him out. "Glad see you back again. Hopefully, now Jeremy will get off my back and instead nag you about the business."

"I'm sure he will."

Mike heads over to the cove to put Foxy into entertaining mode, doesn't even bat an eye seeing that Foxy has glitched out now that he knows what is causing it.

When Jeremy arrives, Mike asks him to join him inside the office where Scott is currently checking the papers on how business is going. With all three current owners of Freddy's gathered, Mike first put Scott up to date of what Goldie has told them about there are two Mediums somewhere out there and they have the same ability to make ghost possess robots as Marion had. "He managed to make them agree on letting them re-possess the animatronics on the condition we will let them stay here for a time." Mike explains the two and says straight out his thoughts on this. "I say we should agree. I mean, we have a place where they can sleep and although business is a bit slow, we should have enough for two more mouths. "Of course if they start living here, it means he has to find himself a new apartment, perhaps it's about time he does move out from here.

Scott is both surprised to hear there are people out there like Marion and probably also Vincent— hopefully they don't have this murder history, dealing with one was bad enough. He is also horrified as that demand makes him think that those two mediums have no place to live. "They must be homeless when they make such a demand." He says and that worries him greatly. "How long do you think any of them has seen a doctor?"

"I'm more worried about them messing up business." Jeremy muses, he does not fancy the thought of having two homeless in the restaurant. Especially not at night. "For all we know, they might not keep their promise and if they do, who knows what they can do to the animatronics. Those aren't cheap and I prefer we do not have more murder incidents." Both Mike and Scott stared at him, Jeremy snorts of their disbelief that he said it. "I'm not putting that past me." How can he? His brother died from the lack of care from the former CEO's of this company and all three in here are dealing with trauma thanks to those assholes and the animatronics losing self-control. "If you want me to agree, they can't live downstairs. I don't trust anyone I haven't known for at least a half year, especially not around the robots. Freddy was right in being distrustful of strangers."

"What do you suggest then?" Scott asks, he can see why Jeremy is reluctant to let two strangers live here. Even if they have a soul again, people can still tamper with the animatronics and make them get deadly. The former restaurant was a clear proof on that. "Are you suggesting we refuse them?"

He didn't say that. "No, we should take the offer. All I am saying that they won't live here." And although Jeremy does not fancy the thought, it is better than letting them stay here at night. "They can stay at my place. has enough room for them."

Exchanging a glance with Scott, Mike must admit defeat on this one. "Alright, your place it is then." He sure hopes this will be good enough for the two Mediums, better send the messenger off. Mike turns to the restaurant's dining hall, and if he wasn't aware of the spirits he would've found this very silly. "This is our offer to them. Can you tell them Goldie?" A ghostly apparition appears for a second, revealing a figure there seems to nod before it is gone.

Mike turns back to the two others, like him, none is really bothered by have seen a spirit. Scott is, in fact, more intrigued by what he saw. "I wonder how much more Calem can do with his ghost powers?"

"As long he does not start throwing with our stuff then I don't give a shit." Jeremy replies and throws a piece of gum into his mouth. After a second of silence, he leaves the office, reminding the two. "Now back to deal with live people. Mike, how's stock?"

Giving one look to Scott there smiles in return, Mike leaves the room as well, letting Scott deal with the paperwork. "We're running a bit low on the game coins, should have enough for this week but we really need more." and they are back to business like any other day.

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He knew this was too good to be true, of course, those people wouldn't have them, of course, they wanted them away from the only place there can offer them any sign of protection! Wouldn't surprise him anymore if the hunter has gotten wind of this already and just waiting for the right moment to strike. "This wasn't part of the deal!" He snaps at the white spirit there worked as the messenger between them and these other people. "It is the hotspot for white spirits or nothing! That house they want us in offers no protection!"

'I'm sorry, but they do not trust you from messing with the animatronics' the spirit explains.

He does not care what these people think, he has bigger things to worry about than a stupid business. "Forget it! The deal's off." He tells the spirit hard and start leaving this abandoned area, calling for his companion. "Let's go."

She hesitates but does follow as she is very aware he is the only one there thinks about her well being.

The girl is afraid, at the Twisted One will come after them again, but she really wants to leave the streets and yes her knight did solemnly promise to keep her safe but… who will protect him? He does a good job hiding it but she knows he is hurt and needs help. "Can't we go there?" She asks in a low tone adding when he gives her a look she has seen many times, mostly when he's scared of going somewhere. "I'm scared too, but I'm more scared of losing you."

"I'm fine."

"No you are not!" She retorts angrily back, he may not consider himself important but she has already lost so many to the Twisted One, she does not want to lose him as well. "You are hurt and need help! Please, Soren; I don't want to lose you too…" She starts to sob, unable to keep her brave face on anymore. She is so scared, and right now she is more scared of losing Soren than facing people there might end up as another hunter.

He watches her break down right before his eyes, how long has she kept on a face for his sake? He does not know, all he does know that he does not want to see her break further because of him. He touches the wound, the skin feels wrong, like touching a wet sponge and it is starting to hurt.

He may be able to keep going for a week before dropping dead, it was fine by him but after have heard she is so afraid to lose him. He decides to go against his instincts of staying away, for her sake he will do it. Letting out a sigh. "Alright, we will come." Eyeing the white spirit. "If I do not make it, promise you and the others will keep her safe."

'I won't allow you to die… Soren' The spirit says solemnly.

Touching but he does not believe its words for a second. He won't live that much longer, he is certain of it. "Take us there." The spirit nods and begins to lead the way. He lets his companion take his hand, the other holds the half-empty knapsack as they follow the spirit.

* * *

 **well, it seems Soren does not trust anyone, nor has much self worth in himself. I wonder what made him like this?**

 **I will try and submit a new chapter two times at week, see how well that will be going.**

 **till next time**


	4. Chapter 4

**I will try and keep on giving you at least one chapter each week, but there might be a point where it stop for a while. it's hard to work in this heatwave and what little work I do happens at night, so I am dealing with some lack of sleep.**  
 **anyway, looking past my summer struggle.**

 **to ian25rebel: that's right and I don't consider this a spoilor saying but Sister Location will appear in this story, perhaps the books along with the two other games as well. but to you all, I will change it so don't get huffy if it's not like in the cannon series.**

 **to antoniodjones123: I might not have read the books but that won't stop me from using that particular name. and well, only time will tell how they will handle it.**

* * *

 _After two days of travel, it has become clear he needs to ransack another mall in order to ensure both have food for the next couple of days. He gives her the last guacamole bar in the bus they are able to drive in thanks to the stuff he stole from the last mall. However just to their luck, this particular bus house a spirit. It is sitting at the front, staring at both of them. Only thing keeping it from approaching is the weapon in his hands, so he is quite relived to leave the bus at the last stop. The spirit is fortunately smart enough not to follow them and stay in its haunting spot. The white one there currently works as their guide strolls beside them like a living person would do, quite strange but aware spirits like this is a rare sight._

 _'Why do you have a weapon to the spirits?" It asks him as they reach a park. 'I thought only very powerful ghosts can harm people and that kind seems to be very rare.'_

 _"They are, but as things stand now, every spirit it a threat to us." He replies their guide, all spirits with just a touch of awareness can report back to their hunter and if that happens… well with the wound not healing right, he doubts he will be much of a threat against any person on the hunter's side._

 _'Why?'_

 _"The Twisted One is hunting us." His companion replies before he can stop her, he does stop her from saying more with a warning glance. She lowers her gaze and stays quiet from the spirit questions of what she meant. He is thankful for having a powerful white spirit on their side but he has trouble trusting it from snitching them out to their hunter. "We can't move on before I have gotten a hold on more supplies." Eyeing his companion, she gives him a determent stare that she will do whatever he asks her to do. It's good to know she has realized how important this is. He gives her a nod and together they go out to find a proper place to raid. The spirit follows them._

 _'How long have you been raiding malls?' It asks worriedly._

 _He does not reply it, sensing this spirit will lecture them that this is wrong. Both are very aware of this, but what other choice do they have when those place there can offer them food, water, a bed and medical supplies proved to be a deadly lure as their hunter expects them to approach such a place? They have to steal in order to stay alive, besides, no one is getting hurt. Only a few big shots wallet but he's sure they will survive._

 _Finding a mall, he picks the lock and with her close by his side, they sneak inside, this time he constantly scans the area for a camera. Spot one and this time he sneaks past its range. When sure they won't get caught on camera, he signs her to find food, she runs over to the shelves holding food while he raids the section holding medical supplies and few bathroom objects he would be very irritated to lack. She returns with arms full of food, they help each other putting it into the knapsack. With the bag full, they both return to the food shelves and eat what they are able, both knowing it will be a while before they can stop and eat._

 _However it seems the owner of this place must've known this might happen, that or the police has figured out their route for a flashlight suddenly hits them, followed with a voice commanding them. "Down on the ground, now!" She freezes up, while he curses himself for not leaving sooner. They can't get caught, if they do then their former guardian will come and kill them both as her master; the hunter wants._

 _The policeman approaches them, again commanding them to get down on the ground, his companion takes his hand in fear. He glances at the spirit besides them. "If he takes us, we will die." The spirit watches him for a moment, then turns to the policeman. The whole place starts to blink in response to the spirit's powers. It makes the policeman stop and when he pulls her to run, the man shouts. "Stop!"_

 _Not liking it one bit but knowing that this is necessary, Calem uses his powers to make the content fly off the shelves, startling the policeman to forget the two kids. And to make his point those two are off limit, he steps as much he can into the realm of the living, running over to the now scared stiff man and returns back to the ghost realm just as he's about to make contact with the policeman. Seeing this one won't pursue the two for quite a while, he leaves the scared stiff man and returns back to the two Mediums side. 'Don't make me do that again.' He tells the boy hard for although he likes a good prank, this is not such things since pranks are supposed to be fun. He's going to be lucky if he hasn't scarred that man for life with this stunt._

 _The teenager boy gives him a look; there is no sign that he feels sorry for the man, he seems more relieved they got away._

 _Pulling her away from the place. "Better leave before more come." They swiftly leave the area, can't stop to rest so he has to carry her and hopes the spirit will take them the right way because he can barely see the route in this darkness of the night. The journey to the place takes way longer than wanted, it would've gone faster if they took official transport but after the encounter with the police, he just didn't dare to risk it so they walk for two weeks straight and she is very happy when they finally reached the city where their possible new home is located._

 _'I will bring you to the restaurant after all the costumes have left.' The spirit tells them, glancing at a clock at the train station they walk past. 'There are some hours before that, so what about the two of you simply relax?'_

 _"We can relax when we are in a safe zone." He tells the spirit hard and wishes it could just bring them there, mostly because he wouldn't have to worry about his companion safety for… well, he is reaching the end. Slightly removing his hand, he sees the clothing over the wound is wet from pus. He sure hopes they will reach the place before his body gives in, but of course, their guide is more worried about the owners of that place than her safety. Typical…_

 _Well, it's not like he can hurry on this one; too set in doing this its way._

 _So taking a seat under a bridge, he pulls out the remaining fruit they have and share it among himself and his companion. They eat in silence, listing to the cars driving above them._

 _He reaches out for an apple, has to stop when the world begins to spin. He hears his companion tells him worried. "People's coming." and without thinking of his own well being, he gets on his feet. "We should move." But barely four steps and his feet give out under him. The world fades to black, and in the few colors he can see he can just form a humanoid figure. He hears someone speaking. "Hey, are you alright there pal?"_

 _His companion cries. "Please help! He's really hurt!"_

 _It's clear he is dying, been for a while but he's not afraid, knows what is awaiting him. More sorry he has to guide her as a ghost instead of a fellow living being._

 _"Hey Ryan call an ambulance!" A man's voice calls and although he is not one much to prays, he will for his companion sake. He will pray that these people will have enough kindness in them and take her to the safe house, he prays that those people there offered them a safe place will keep Hope safe as he no longer can do that task._

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The restaurant gets an unusual visitor an hour before closing, Mike is especially surprised for he hasn't seen much to Daniel's father; Detective Williams since they got this place up and running again. He guesses it's because the memories still hurt and the fact he never got things sorted out with Daniel. Mike knows that feeling far too well and does not blame the detective for staying away. So now the question; what brought him back? "Been a while." He greets the detective and asks worried. "Everything going alright?"

Nathan nods to Mike, must admit that after he learned the truth about the animatronics of Freddy's. His and Mike's relationship has become better. He would like to visit the only survivor of his son's friend group more often but job and heartbreaking memories are keeping him away, he feels stupid that he only comes when he need help to a case. "As fine as it can be. I mean I still can't get over the fact about the ghost in your case." Mike quirks a smile, at least he has gotten way better since the last time Nathan saw him. "Anyway, could you perhaps aid me with a small case of mine?"

Of course, the detective come here to chat about a case, then again Nathan always had trouble putting down his badge. And Mike guesses he can help if it means Daniel's father stay for a while. "Sure, do you want anything to drink?" and the detective replies. "Coffee and maybe something to eat, haven't eaten since this morning." It's a wonder Nathan is not skin and bones if this is how his schedule looks like. Mike fetches some coffee and asks Anna to warm one of their bigger pizza slices. While she does that, Mike returns to the detective with the coffee and takes the man to the office for some privacy. "I presume this help is something supernatural." Mike points out, thinking that is pretty much the only thing he knows more about than Nathan.

"Yeah." Nathan muses, and after have sipped of the coffee, he explains what happen last night. "These past weeks, shopping malls have been raided, mostly food, clothing and medical supplies, few times money as well. That wasn't really unusual, what was that this thief somehow was able to avoid all the security and the only video take we have of him showed this kid staring at the camera before it glitched out."

Mike frowns at this. "A person did that?" Nathan nods and must admit that short video reminded him a tad too much about a certain puppet, at least this boy did not jump-scare the camera. But it was freaky seeing this kid just stare at the camera before it shut down. This is against the police law, but Nathan needs a bit of help here, more so if he's dealing with another ghost seeing person. He pulls out a picture of this boy and hands it to Mike. "Do you recognize this one?"

Mike takes the picture there shows a young teenager boy staring up at the camera in the darkness. It's hard to see the color of anything thanks to the darkness, but all he is certain is this boy has dark hair. He looks very thin, sickly even and Mike does not like seeing how this boy is holding over the lower part of his chest. "He looks wounded." He muses.

"Yeah, we don't know what caused his wound though." The detective replies for this is the very first picture they have of this theif. "But it does explain why several medical supplies get stolen. Are you sure you haven't seen him before?"

Mike shakes his head. "No, sorry." Pity but no real surprise there. "Alright, but that's not really why I am here." He only explains after this waitress has left the warmed pizza and out from the office again. "Yesterday, I heard from a co-worker of mine that he found the thief in the act. He wasn't alone, a small girl— one we have been looking for was with him, so we can put kidnapping on the charge as well. Anyway, my coworker told me that when he tried to make the arrest, all the lights started blinking and stuff flew off their shelves. That's not what made him question his sanity though."

"What did?"

"He told me that a ghost of a middleaged man charged at him before he disappeared." Nathan explains and hands Mike a sketch of what his coworker told he saw. Unlike the boy caught on camera, he recognized this ghost and very certain Mike will as well. "Look familiar?"

It sure did, a bit off but that face looks very much like Goldie's human form. "That's Goldie— how he built his human form I mean." Mike quickly explains and wonders out loud. "But why would he aid a kidnapper and thief? He's not the type of person doing such things." Unless… what if this thief and kidnapper is the same one who could bring the animatronics back? Can that be the reason? Does Goldie even know? Whatever the case, he better gets a proper chat with those two before letting them live with Jeremy. Should he tell this to the detective? As much Mike would like to, he really wants his friends back. Call it selfish but maybe this agreement will also aid Nathan in the long run.

"You tell me. He's one of your guys." Detective Willams points out, he may know about the spirits but most of it goes straight over his head. Sadly Mike is not much help as hoped, the young man shrugs, saying softly. "I have no idea…" So now the question is, as Williams here has been tasked to track that kid down. "Will Goldie be any danger? I have been tasked to take that kidnapper down."

And this Mike can reply without hesitating. "Goldie won't hurt you, he might restrain you if he thinks aiding the kidnapper is for the better but that's as far he will go."

Oh good, no dead match then, instead he might have a one-sided argument with a spirit. Good god, what is this for a world he's living in now? Detective Willams has no idea but he does wish he could go back to just hunt down people with a gun instead dealing with dead people.

"Good to hear… how are you holding up Mike?" He decides to ask, thinking he owes Mike that much.

"Better, it still hurts but I think it's supposed to." Mike replies softly, must admit the hurt has been replaced with an odd sense of hope that his friends might soon return. Not sure what will replace it if that approaching Medium proves to be a threat. Guess he needs to handle that when that problem arrives, thinking it about now will just keep him from doing his work properly. "Glad I do have friends around me this time."

Nathan nods and seems relieved for that as well.

* * *

 **ohhhhh boy, the kid is not doing so good. at least he got help. Mike is fortunately doing better, as I wrote in Facing the Past, he did recover thanks to his friends so he's not a grief struck as he was when he was a child.**


	5. Chapter 5

**to Oryonn: the small grammar mistake should be fixed now.**

 **in case some of you are set on this story follows the game lore: it won't so certain characters role has been changed a lot. I am doing my own fnaf lore here, that's why it's a Alternative Universe fanfiction.**

 **with that small reminder over- enjoy the story!**

* * *

After the detective has left and today's business is about to end, Mike heads over to the stage but is stopped by the only employee there returned when he, Jeremy and Scott opened the doors again to Freddy's. He must admit that Anna is a very loyal employee, something all three of the new owners are happy about.

"Mr. Schmidt, can I speak my mind about something? I prefer not getting fired for this." She asks him. Mike raises a brow, wondering what she will say if it worries her to get fired. "Uh sure." He replies, more curious than anything that the head waitress wishes to speak her mind about.

Well here goes nothing, Anna takes a deep breath and tells Mike her opinion on having him as her new boss. "I liked it better when Sean Fazbear was the boss." Mike blinks at this and she wants to make it clear before this man gets the wrong idea. "Don't get me wrong, you, Mr. Fitzgerald and Cawthon are all good people and good doing your jobs as the security. But none of you are good at being a CEO, so… yeah, I miss Mr. Fazbear— or Legrand." She glances over her shoulders were Rena is helping their young mechanic out, she and Rena have become good friends. Thanks to this friendship, Rena shared that Sean is her brother and he left very suddenly. "I don't know what made him leave in the first place, all I do is it's not worth it." Turning back to Mike, for only a fool wouldn't have seen that Mike and the former boss were good friends. "Both you and Rena miss him dearly, I miss him too and wishes he would soon return."

"We don't know if he ever will, miss Radmila." Mike replies softly, he wishes Sean would but as things stand now, none of them knows if that will happens.

Anna snorts lightly of the former boss ever are going to return. She is more interested in what will happen if he does. "What happens if he does? Is this place still under his name?" Can he even reclaim his family business from this bunch of security guards?

That is a good question, Sean did leave the restaurant to him, Jeremy and Scott in the testament. Okay, he will play a bit with the idea of what could happen if the animatronics return. Will Freddy try and claim the restaurant again? Probably, bear always taken this place as his property and Mike can see why, for even though Freddy has a humble soul, not even he can avoid a soaring ego that everyone knows this place as his restaurant and it was giving to him by Scott. So yeah, it is possible Freddy would like to get the restaurant back in his name, and Mike would return it without hesitating.

Anna wasn't wrong in saying that he is a lousy CEO, been more of a follower than a leader. What about Jeremy and Scott? Would they return the restaurant to Freddy? Scott would, he did give the whole business to the bear in the first place, and Jeremy? Well, Mike thinks the blond would be very happy get rid of the extra workload he has been dealing with but he could also refuse giving it up, as Jeremy; like Freddy takes his job very seriously and might have trouble letting go of this. Sure hope there won't be any major conflicts if that happens.

"He gave Freddy's to us, but if he ever returns, I will be more than happy letting him get my piece of the ownership to him." Mike replies Anna after have ended those thoughts. "I prefer simply being the security guard." Less stressful and gives him someone to walk over to if he has problems, as things stand now, he has only Jeremy and Scott to ask for help.

Anna nods and seems very satisfied with his answer. "Thanks for letting me speak my mind." and leaves Mike again. This conversation made him realize that if Freddy's should exceed like last time then the animatronics need to return. Now he really hopes these two Medium Goldie spoke are legit and not another Vincent incident. He does not want to deal with that man anymore, and the thought Vincent is dead does not ease his mind. Unlike most Mike knows that being dead does not change the fact that people still can get hurt. Please let Vincent not be a haunting spirit and the killer have moved on or whatever…

Shaking these worried thoughts aside, Mike steps up onto the stage and eyes the slump over bear animatronic. "I don't know if you can hear me, but…" Mike lets out a sigh but he feels this needs to be said to the adoptive brother of the golden bear. "A detective made me aware Goldie is possibly aiding a criminal, and I don't know why." He almost jumps when Freddy's eyelids open and the strong blue orbs are aimed directly at him. Mike returns the gaze of his closest friend. "I know it's much to ask of you, but could you check up on him?" The robot spasm slightly and the eyes go dead again, Mike does not know if this is a sign that Sean heard him and left to find Goldie or his friend has reached the limit of what little possession he can do. He hopes it's the former.

Mike puts Freddy and the two others into sleep mode and leaves the stage.

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Other than having to deal with a very worried Mike for something they yet know nothing about, Scott must say that everything is pretty much back to normal for him. He does wish he could be a bit more outside the office but if he does not keep track of their in- and outcome then they can wave this place goodbye. Sure Jeremy can help but that would rob the costumes for a security guard who can handle the bit more… stubborn people. Mike is not good at calculating nor dealing with aggressive people, Scott fully understands why the man can't handle such people, he too deals with the trauma of what Vincent did to his own friends and what that man put him through. Mike is dealing with twice as much, for unlike Scott who pretty much only had to deal with Nightmare— there had been firmly commanded not to hurt him. Mike has been almost killed by that murder several times, so it's a wonder he's not shivering in a corner. Scott is, of course, happy that's not the case and do hope that with Vincent dead that Mike can perhaps get his life back to normal— well as normal he can get anyway.

Finishing off the paperwork, Scott is relieved he can finally leave the chair and go home; knowing the restaurant won't fall thanks to bankruptcy as the last place did.

His home isn't much, just a small apartment with a few plants and pictures of the time when the animatronics had a soul inside of them. Taking on the pictures there shows the animatronics having a sweet time at Christmas, it was taken by when he still was trapped by Nightmare. Wish he could've been there… wish there would be another of such a party. Scott miss the spirits, yes even the one who took this picture. When they cleaned out the Parts and Service, he and Thomas found a whole box filled with pictures along with the digital camera used. It took him quite off guard, but none other more than Jeremy when he saw that Marion has been taking pictures of all of them and storing them as the only sign that the puppet actually cared for them. That was the only way he could show and Scott hope that lost soul has found peace wherever he is—

 _"Scott!"_

He drops the picture and its frame gets destroyed when it hits the floor, Scott, however, does not notice that as he's busier staring at the apparition of Calem standing behind him.

 _"Go to the hospital, hurry before he dies!"_ Calem urges him and becomes a sort of ghostly orb when leaving the room, urging him again. _"Hurry!"_

Snapping out from his startle, Scott picks up his jacket and keys and runs after the ghost orb of Calem, he follows it all the way to the hospital, here Calem takes as solid form he is allowed and explains him. _"Ask for the boy named Soren, lie if you must but you have to ensure both their safety."_

Scott nods and just as the spirit disappears, he hurries into the hospital, asks for this Soren and when asked of his relation he lies by saying he is a relative.

A doctor arrives no long after and while leading him through the hospital, she explains to him. "It's a miracle he has survived for this long. The stab he received has cut into the liver, he was lucky he stopped the bleeding without professional aid but this refusal of going to a hospital might be his dead warren. The liver and flesh are highly infected, so we are forced to remove the flesh and do a liver transplant it if he should have any chance of survival. Perhaps it's best you inform the rest of the family." She suggests him in a somber tone. "The chances of survival is minuscule, he is greatly underweight and has dealt with infection for so long it has weakened his immune defense. I think the only thing keeping him alive this very moment is his own will."

Scott is horrified to hear that this boy- Soren is possible a knife victim and thought it was better running and deal with what he guesses is an agonizing inflammation when the wound never got properly treated.

Before he can speak, the doctor continues. "Fortunately his sister is in a better condition. She is malnutrition but we do not know if she has any wounds... poor girl won't let anyone near her. One of the nurses had to treat the man who brought her, she was so scared she bit him and kept calling for help, possibly her brother."

Scott simply nods and after the doctor has left him at the room where this girl is been housed, he notices that Calem's spirit is sitting beside her. The girl snaps away from the ghost and to him, her sage green eyes, red from tears and wide in fear. She crawls away from him, Scott has the feeling the only thing keeping her from screaming and thrashing to get away is Calem. Scott takes a seat on the nearby chair, telling her softly. "Hello, I'm Scott. Um," he swiftly eyes the ghost of his friend before turning back to the scared girl. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Do you have anyone I should call?" She shakes her head and after a moment of silence, she speaks with a shaky voice. "You… You're not afraid?" Scott blinks, at first not sure what she means.

 _"She speaks about me."_ Calem explains to him.

Oh that. "No." Scott shakes his head, giving the ghost a smile. "Calem is a friend of mine. He was the one who asked me to come."

She eyes the spirit confused, then turns back to Scott with the same confused eyes. "Are… Are you one of the people offering us a safe place to live?" So this girl is one of the Mediums? That must mean Soren is too, according to Mike and Jeremy, there should be two. "Yes, we can offer you a place to live. If you would like it of course. So uh what's your name?"

"Hope Sigal." She replies, her voice no longer shaky and she seems rather calm. Good thing too and she didn't notice how both spirit and man tense up hearing her last name.

Sigal? That's Vincent's last name, no, no this can't be his daughter! Scott is appalled by this fact, but he doubts the man ever has done his duty as a parent. But just to be sure. "What is your father's name?" He asks slowly.

The girl must've noticed something is up for she hesitates on the answer, almost looks ready to bolt. "...Mother said his name was Vincent, but I have only seen him once- he didn't like me. William Afton is my real father but he can't have us around…"

Did he hear her right? William Afton? He knows that name, although it has been years since he last heard it. That is the name of the man who built all of the animatronics of Freddy's. This girl considers him as her father? Well better than Vincent. The little he knows about William is that he is a good man, although perhaps not the one entertainment companies should go and ask for robots, for that man was the one who came up with the springlock suits. But why in the world would this girl say her stepfather won't have her around? "May I ask why?" He asks her.

Hope is no longer sure if she should tell this man, Soren always made it clear not to trust people. What if he turns them down for telling? "I don't know." She lies. The man calling himself Scott sighs and gets up from the chair, saying much to her horror. "I better tell your father where you are."

"No!" she cries and does not care she shouldn't say this but daddy made it very clear he shouldn't know her location. "Daddy told me not to tell where I am! If I do, the Twisted One will come for us!"

"Twisted One?" Scott asks and although he dreads where this is going he is starting to understand why Soren and Hope were so determent to live in a place filled with light spirits such as Freddy's. "This "Twisted One", is it a dark spirit?" She nods. Right, seems like Nightmare is back. The name Twisted One sure suits that mass of black spirits and although he really does not want to face that monster again. Scott does not want two children to face her on their own. "Calem, can you look out for her? With your uh powers, you should keep this dark spirit away." Calem nods and with her at least protected against this dark spirit Scott is certain is Nightmare, he leaves to find the phone number on Mr. Afton. Fortunately, that is rather easy thanks to the wonders of the internet.

After having waited a few moments, Mr. Afton takes the phone, thinking him to be a customer. Scott quickly apologizes and explains the real reason why he called. "I found your children."

 _"You found Hope and Soren?"_ William asks, for some reason he sounds incredible worried about this. _"Are they alright?"_

"Hope is fine, scared but safe. Soren on the other hand, he um… he might not survive his wounds." Scott explains, Mr. Afton lets out a pained sound. "Do you want to see him before—"

 _"NO!"_ William cries, the same fear as his daughter. Letting out a sigh and prays this stranger does not see him as insane as his wife's sister did. _"Please, don't tell me… their safety depends that I never know their location."_

Scott is startled to hear this, but also getting a better understanding of what might be going on. "Is… Is the Twisted One watching you?" Adding quickly. "Your daughter told me a dark spirit is hunting her, she called it the Twisted One."

William lets out a long sigh, the relief that someone understands is overwhelming. _"Yes, yes this dark spirit is watching me. It won't hurt me but I can't deny it either… please, protect Hope and Soren. And… And if Soren's body no longer can carry him, at least don't chase him away. Boy has been through enough already."_

"We will keep them safe." Scott promises and after a very genuine thanks from Mr. Afton, he ends the call. It seems they have been involved in another struggle of people able to see the dead. This time it's not a game who is going to kill first but a question of mere survival. He better gets Hope to Freddy's and explains Jeremy and Mike the situation.

Scott returns back to the room and tells what her father requested them to look after her and Soren. "So I need to take you to another place." She nods but the worry in her eyes are clear, more so what worries her when she turns her gaze to the door. Scott gives her a weak smile. "The doctors are doing everything they can to save your brother."

"He's my cousin." Hope corrects this man, she hopes these doctors can save him, without him she would've been taken by the Twisted One a long time ago. And knowing her father has asked this man to keep her safe makes her feel comfortable enough to tell him and the spirit what caused Soren's wound in the first place. "The Twisted One made his mother attack us, he died for a short time but a spirit friend of mine saved him. Mommy and Daddy tried to get rid of the Twisted One but it didn't like that and mommy… It ate her." Hope dries away a single tear, breaking in tears won't help her nor Soren. "Daddy told us to run away not long after that."

Scott and the Spirit exchange a glance with one another, Hope fear she has said too much so she does not answer any more of their question and instead just follows Scott out. She does stop when they pass the room where the doctors are trying to save Soren's body. She can see his spirit but is relieved that he is still connected to his body. "Daddy asked this man to keep us safe. I will stay at their place and wait for you, alright?"

Soren nods slowly, she does not like the expression he has. Like the rouge side of him is taking over and neither of them needs that now. "No rouge now!" She commands him hard, it makes a few people stare but she can deal with the embarrassment later. "You need to be a knight and stay in there! I don't want you to be dead!" Soren lowers his head, after a moment he meets her eyes again with a determent nod, sign the knight in him has control again. Satisfied he will keep on fighting, Hope turns to the confused Scott. "Okay, we can leave now."

That was… sort of weird, but Scott won't complain if this girl made her cousin keep on fighting to stay alive. He lets Hope take his hand and he leads her back to his car. 

* * *

**well the Twisted One sounds like one not to mess around with. And those of you remembering a certain chapter of Facing the Past might recognize the girl, and she is the possible the only one making sure Soren won't end up as another ghost of Freddy's.**

 **till next time**


	6. Chapter 6

**I have just realized that I will put this chapter out at the 4 years anniversary to when the first FNAF game came out. talk about a coincidence!**

 **Freddy: indeed and from what I hear Dawko has made an interview with our creator.**

 **yup, so if you haven't seen it, give it a view.**

 **to antoniodjones123: again quite a coincidence, for this chapter explains the others reaction to what you said.**

 **to everyone else, enjoy the story**

* * *

Scott and Hope arrive at a restaurant, inside Hope notices that the animatronics on the stage reminds about her father latest robots, except these have fur and look more like real animals. The restaurant itself kinda looks like the place her father sold his newest robots. It is quite a surprise that a place having her father's possible older robots does not only bring joy to live people but the dead as well. There are a lot of white spirits hanging around this place, so their guide was right, this place is indeed a hotspot for good spirits.

At the stage, she sees more, ten of them, and they are sort of different. They look more human and yet not, for sometimes they take shape of an animal. Hope takes notice that three of them take the form of the robots on the stage.

The one there at times take shape as a bear leaves the stage when it spots the Guide and demands the Guide both worried and angry. _'where did you go? What did you do to make Mike this worried?'  
_ And the Guide replies as if he's alive and not a dead person. _'I'm sorry, I had some business to attend to. I will explain later.'_ The one taking shape as a bear nods slowly and it leaves with. _'You better.'  
_ The Guide turns to her with sadness over his face. ' _At times I do wish he remembers these later explanations…'_ Hope is not sure how to response to that, something tells her she's not suppose to.

She turns to Scott, so far the only alive man beside her in this building, he gives her a small smile. "Are you hungry? Think we still have some leftover pizza." She simply nods and while the man makes some for once real food for her, Hope sits on a chair at one of the many tables, watching the spirits hanging around. Several of them are curious about her, others completely ignore her. Those most aware of her are those taking shapes as certain animals. One of them, this one at times take shape of some sort of bird takes a seat beside her, just as it would when alive.

 _'Hey there sweetie, you lost?'_

Hope shakes her head, musing to this friendly spirit. "I will live here for a while."

 _'Why's that?'_ A young spirit there at times take shape of a baby bunny asks.

"Something really bad is after me and Soren." Hope softly explains it and the rest of the more aware spirits. "We have been running for so long… I wish it will stop soon…" The spirits all turn to the one there confronted the Guide not long ago, Hope gets the sense this one is the boss of the group. This spirit takes the shape of a bear, and when it returns to more humanoid shape; it speaks. _'As far it concerns me, you and this Soren are welcome to stay as long you respect our rules. They are simple, listen to what the head staff tells you, don't steal or harm others and do what you can to help run this place.'_ Hope nods that she will follow these instructions, feel a bit strange a spirit is giving her such rules. Most of those she has met were more interested in finding certain things, get over whatever killed them or… be around loved ones. Her grandmother was one of those spirits. Makes Hope wonder; is these spirits staying around because people they care about are here?

Scott returns with a warmed pizza. "Here you go." She starts wolfing it down and he has to stop her. Hope has almost forgotten what it meant to have enough food, she and Soren have been out on the street for what feels like forever that having good food such as pizza is a great rarity and something they needed to eat quickly before the people they stole it from would catch up to them. Not here though as when she is done, Scott asks if she would like more. "Yes please." and she gets more. It's been so long she has been able to eat as much as she likes. Sure hope they can stay here, scavenging for any scrape of food and water, not to mention the daily worry of sleeping places there are both warm and dry is not fun. Speaking of sleep. "Do you have a real bed or do I have to sleep on the floor?" She asks, turning to the spirit there takes shape as a rabbit when that one remarks. _'Mikey can be the one sleeping on the floor, you look like you can use some proper rest kid.'_ Followed by another saying something to the Guide, she didn't hear that one's words as Scott replied right at the same time. "You will get a bed, not sure where though."

She nods and a moment of silence, which she interrupts with a startled jump and has to keep herself from fleeing when another man walks into the hall from seemly nowhere. This one is younger and from how messy he looks, Hope gets the sense he has just woken up.

Talk about a rude awakening, no idea who of the spirits did it but Mike would prefer getting awaken by his alarm or the cat, not getting his duvet pulled off. Scared him out of his wits. "First, don't ever wake me like that again." He points at the seemly empty stage, but he knows better.

Hope notices that the Guide spirit and one she didn't hear the words and currently having the shape of a hare both have a mischievous grin all over their faces.

Letting out a yawn and stretches out, Mike turns to their guest in form of a young girl, currently staring at the stage. He takes the educated guess that it is not the animatronics she is looking at. "I presume you're one of the Mediums Goldie spoke about." She snaps back to him and after she stops staring at him in surprise that he does not find her ability to see dead people weird, she nods shyly. Mike returns the nod and figures a proper introduction is in place. "I'm Mike Schmidt, part of the head staff you can speak freely with when it comes to the spirits of Freddy's."

"Are you the Mikey one of the spirits spoke about?" Hope asks, remembering the one taking the form of a rabbit said, why did that one want Mike to give her his bed?

No need to ask who she heard. "Yes, along with Michael. It's what some of my friends call me, but you can simply refer to me as Mike." He explains and after has scanned the area, Mike notices that there is only one of the Mediums. "Didn't Goldie say there were two?"

"Yeah about that…" Scott briefly pulls Mike away, explaining to him that the second Medium is in the hospital and promises him. "I will explain further when Jeremy arrives." Mike nods and fortunately, they did not have to wait for long.

They leave Hope along with their spirit friends and inside the office, Scott tells the two others about Soren condition and the high chance he might not survive. "I got a hold on her father, a man named William Afton- he uh, he's the creator of the animatronics of Freddy's."  
Both Jeremy and Mike blink hearing this, mostly the blond. "So this kid is the daughter of the man who made the springlocks?" and Scott replies with the crawling sense of dread what he soon has to tell them. "Well no, she's not his biological daughter. She's um… Vincent's daughter."

Mike's eyes wide hearing this, barely heard the curse leaving Jeremy's mouth. Hope is the daughter of Vincent? That does explain her ability to see dead people but, "That's can't be right, she's such a sweet girl." He objects, no child of that heartless murder will turn into such a shy but kind soul as Hope.

"Did Goldie know about this?" Jeremy asks and is not really sure how to react to this. In one hand he would like nothing to do with the spawn of Vincent but on the other, this girl did not decide who her father was and from how polite she is, it seems Vincent never tried raising her. That thought surprises him less actually, Vincent never really cared for children, more interested in the animatronics and when he did pay attention to the kids... well now he knows it's when that bastard had chosen a soon to be victim.

Said spirit appears at the window. _"I do not think it matters anymore."_ The three men turn to him and Calem tells them why he does not think this fact matters. _"Hope is nothing like her father. From the time I traveled with her and Soren. Hope has shown to be kind but forced to throw away her childish naivety in order to survive. All she has in common with her father is her smarts. What I noticed, she's the only one who can argue with Soren and the boy will listen to."_

"How is this Soren?" Mike asks.

 _"It was hard knowing how exactly he would react to certain situations."_ Calem must admit. _"When I first met him he was ready to fight and only lowered his weapon when I ensured him I wished him no harm. Next, he was more concerned about staying away from people than anything, only considered taking the offer when Hope spoke up. I can't tell you how he will react to things, I don't think he is fully aware why he does certain things. All I know that Soren's main concern is Hope."_ Glancing to the main hall where Hope is having a conversation with the Toy's spirits. _"As Hope priority is staying near her closest friend and protector."_

Great… this Soren sounds to be one hell piece of work. Jeremy grumbles at this fact but can he really blame the kid from being like that? Any child would become paranoid, distrustful and aggressive if they have been living on the streets for who knows how long, more so when getting hunted by a psycho black spirit and according to what Hope told Scott; Soren's own mother tried to kill him. So no, Jeremy does not blame that kid in not knowing how to react to his surroundings, being all-paranoid and confused in his own emotions. "Let's hope he survives." Jeremy says for honestly. "I much rather want to deal with an all-guard up kid than a paranoid and overprotective spirit."

Mike tends to agree on this, it will be such a shame if Soren will die before his life really has begun. This place has enough children spirits as it is. "Yeah, but we can't do much for Soren as things stand now."

"Right, we should instead make sure Hope is safe and sound." Jeremy nods, and although he does not fancy the thought that girl being Vincent's kid, he is willing to push that aside until she proves him wrong and suggests to the two others. "I still think they should live with me." The two others do not argue, but Mike does come up with a reasonable suggestion. "It will be best if one of our spirit friends hang around your house. You know, in case this Twisted One finds them."

Jeremy agrees, for he really has no wish in doing a standoff before something like that rabbit from hell again. Turning to Calem. "Can you get the others to decide who should have the first guard duty?" The ghost nods and disappears from their realm of existence.

After this, Jeremy and the two others leave the office and explains Hope the situation. She does not fancy the thought of leaving but is both too mentally tired and overwhelmed to argue.

Jeremy has to pick the girl up and carry her to his car. After has put her on the backseat, Calem appears again with the quick message: _"Daniel will take the first shift."_ Before disappearing again.

The drive home happens with no complications and after have put Hope under the duvet of her new bed, Jeremy decides to watch bit television before he goes to bed as well. 

* * *

**The kindness her mother and step-father taught Hope was what saved her from not being treated as smaller and female vision of Vincent. Of course Jeremy will be keeping a sharp eye on her but that's just him being himself.**

 **if you have any song suggestions or wishes to certain chapter plots, feel free to tell me. There is a chance I will add it into the story**

 **till next time**


	7. Chapter 7

**to Girl301: which is my favorite? hm I will say that's Spring. I always enjoy making scenes of him teasing his brother (be biological or adopted) and with all his personal issues I could also get many heartfelt scenes when writing him.**

 **I was at first planning on finding a FNAF song suiting this but I couldn't so I went for this one. "Monster" made by Skillet.**

 **enjoy**

* * *

 _With no other option unless they will lose the two kids to that crazy woman, Jeremy drives to where the map tells he can find William Afton, it's a huge risk but they really do not have much choice. Takes him a couple of days, Hopefully, the detective can help Mike and Scott keeping the bitch away from Soren and Hope until he returns with the proper papers. When Jeremy finally arrive in the town, it takes him a bit longer than wanted to find the man's house and when he does, Jeremy does not waste time and knocks on the door. A man a few years younger than him appear at the door, he has dark brown hair and bags under his brown eyes, it's clear this man hasn't been sleeping much._

 _"Can I help you?" The man asks carefully._

 _He better, for those two children's lives depend on his corporation. "I'm here to ask you to sign a few papers." He hands William the papers, the man takes them at first confused, then realization dawns on him and he pretty much freaks out._

 _"You have to leave." William urges this man, he is thankful this man is trying to help Soren and Hope but being near him will only do more harm than good as things are now. "It will follow you back to them!" He returns back to his house, but this stranger either didn't understand the danger or didn't care._

 _"Look I didn't come here all the way for you to slam the door at my face." The man snaps and slams the papers onto the table. "We can't house your child and nephew unless you sign these papers!" William stops, he wants the best for the kids but… he's just so scared. Scared what that monster is going to do. It's watching, he knows it is and when this man leaves it will follow. Turning to the man, William asks— begs him. "Don't lead it to them. I already lost my wife thanks to it…" This monster may say it never meant it but William knows that it never truly cares about others than itself. All that matters is the hunt. It may think it cares for him, that's why he is spared but William has seen the true side of the Twisted One and this proclaimed care it shows is nothing more than control, and the moment he breaks it's so-called trust. He will either be disposed of- slaughtered like a sheep to a wolf, or it will break his mind; force him to become a slave and it will then use him to hurt his little girl… that very fate happened to Annabelle's sister…_

 _Jeremy simply nods to the man's desperate request. He knew the risk coming here but Mr. Afton does not know he came prepared. Freddy is with him and should be able to fend this dark spirit off or at least keep it distracted long enough for him to get the hell out of its sight._

 _Mr. Afton grabs a pen and signs the papers, he also writes a note to the children, telling them how much he loves Hope and is proud of Soren, finishing off with the words 'I promise I will make it right' not sure what it means but that he can think about later. For just as he claims the signed papers, the lights start to flicker and several objects shake._

 _Jeremy looks around this show that something is going on, is it the dark spirit?_

 _Willam seems to know what is going on, for he urges him to leave "Something has angered it, leave now!" Jeremy swiftly leaves the house and drives off. Out from the corner of his eye, he notices a trashcan gets hurled up into the air. He does not check what caused this._

 _He drives as fast he can without getting stopped by the police, in case Freddy couldn't hold that thing off he takes several detours and only at midnight when he can barely keep his eyes open. Jeremy stop and rent a small room for the night._

 _He turns on the radio for a bit of music while taking a shower, he has to leave the shower early for the darn radio can't keep the contact to the local radio tower. "Piece of crap." He grumbles and turns it off, going over to the bed but stops midway when the radio suddenly turns itself on. Jeremy stares at the radio playing a sort of rock song, after a moment of hesitating he returns over to the radio and pulls out the plug. To his horror, the radio keeps on playing this song._

 _'The secret side of me, I never let you see_

 _I keep it caged but I can't control it_

 _So stay away from me, the beast is ugly_

 _I feel the rage and I just can't….'_

 _Jeremy flees from the room, not even bothering to grab his jacket, his very safety depends on him getting the hell out from there!_

 _He jumps into the car and speeds off, at a traffic light, he glances at the rearview mirror and forgets about the green light when a black shadow sits there in the back, staring right at him. Next second the car radio turn itself on._

 _'It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls_

 _It comes awake and I can't control it_

 _Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head_

 _Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?'_

 _He flees from the car, completely ignoring the driver behind yells at him for leaving the car in the middle of the traffic light. They did, however, forget about that when the black spirit let itself be seen as it appears on top of the car there is still playing._

 _'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster.'_

 _It leaps off the car and gives chase to its victim._

 _'I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster_

 _I, I feel like a monster_

 _I, I feel like a monster'_

 _Jeremy stops when the dark spirit has caught up to him, now towering over him as a grinning humanoid mass, any nearby source is playing the song of its choice._

 _'My secret side I keep hid under lock and key_

 _I keep it caged but I can't control it'_

 _It jumps at him, in fear Jeremy topples over and falls flat onto the concrete ground._

 _'Cause if I let him out he'll tear me up, break me down_

 _Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?'_

 _Before he can get up and away, the spirit grabs him around the throat and he finds himself in Fazbear Fright. He gets spun around and stand face to face with a broken and rotten up Spring._

 _'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _Spring grabs his shoulders, forces him to see the rotten corpse underneath the mask._

 _'I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _Spring pushes him away, staring at him with blood falling from the glassy eyes. Jeremy takes the run for it._

 _'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _However, not far he encounters that rabbit from hell, blocking his path._

 _'I, I feel like a monster_

 _I, I feel like a monster'_

 _One of the insane spirit's hallucination specters grabs him from behind, forcing him to stay put._

 _'It's hiding in the dark, it's teeth are razor sharp'_

 _The specter Foxy steps forward, jaw right over his head._

 _'There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart_

 _No one can hear me scream, maybe it's just a dream'_

 _He thinks he screams when it bites him, throwing him back to when Vixey snapped and attacked, except this time the bite didn't draw just a bit of blood, it tore a large chunk off his head._

 _'Maybe it's inside of me, stop this monster!'_

 _The phantoms lets go and he drops to the floor, vision blurred thanks to the heavy bleeding._

 _'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin_

 _I must confess that—'_

 _Black claws throw him up from the floor, making him stare into the white eyes of this animatronic monster of some sort of canine._

 ** _'I feel like a monster!_**

 _I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _This monster tightens its grip around him, for a moment almost seems to feel sorry about his predicament. And just for a moment, Jeremy thought it would let him go._

 _'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin_

 _I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _But that hope shatters to million pieces right when the monster canine starts tearing his skin off his flesh. Laughing at his screams._

 _'I've gotta lose control, here's something radical'_

 _He fights, fights to stay alive, to stay sane of the agony this monster puts him through, but that only seems to please it!_

 _'I must confess that I feel like a monster'_

 _It appears before him in the shape of a person, taunting him to keep on fighting it._

 _'I, I feel like a monster'_

 _He will fight._

 _'I feel like a monster'_

 _but something tells him…_

 _'I, I feel like a monster'_

 _That's what the monster wants, for they both know... it's only a matter of time before he will lose… before he will break…_

 _'I, I feel like a monster!'_

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After having done most of the work on their budget, Scott decides that perhaps it's best for Hope to see her cousin. Either to encourage him to keep on fighting or say goodbye to his body, only time will tell. Arriving at the hospital, Scott gets some good news from one of the doctors there attended to Soren's operation. "We managed to close the wound and remove the infected tissue." But that good news quickly turns sour. "He's still in critical condition and the chances he will ever wake up is sadly small. He's too weak for the liver transplant so he's currently connected to a machine. Only time will tell if he ever gains enough strength or his body will finally give up."

That is not exactly the news he had been hoping for, still Scott thanks the doctor and together with Hope heads into Soren's room. The boy looks pretty bad, he's terribly skinny, pale from probable lack of blood and stress of having dealt with an infected wound for who knows how long. The many machines keeping him alive is also quite startling too, and Scott does not blame Hope for staring at the scene in horror.

She does recover fairly quickly and walks over to the comatose Soren. Without a word, she pulls a chair over and takes a seat, after a moment of silence she begins to speak. "I'm fine, the people are nice, the spirits too but some of them are a bit weird." If any doctor or nurse would pass by, Scott is certain they would simply think she spoke to Soren's body and not his actual spirit.

Hope bites her lip in whatever Soren tells her, and Scott must give her credit for not shedding tears. "I promise… but… please Soren I don't want you to leave like mother…"

This kid doesn't get any break, first, she lost her mother, then her father is forced to chase her away as the only way to protect her and now, her cousin, her protector is telling her he soon will leave her as well. Poor girl…

Hope leaves the chair and learns over Soren's body, resting carefully on top of it. "Don't leave me Soren. I… I can't do this on my own…"

Scott feels like he should say something but he has no idea what he can say. It's not like he can make Soren better, only the doctors can and he doubt his words will have a bigger impact than his niece. So instead he fetches something to drink and after has given her the juice, he sits quietly and as best comfort he can give to these two children.

He and Hope leave an hour later when a nurse request them to as visit hours are over.

Back at the restaurant, Mike and Rena stop their conversation when spotting their newest member of the restaurant. Mike feels sorry for the girl how grief stuck she looks and decides he better hear from Scott how Soren is doing. Rena follows him but decides to instead try and cheer the girl up by suggesting. "What about we go over and draw a bit?" Hope meekly agrees, hopefully, she will cheer up in time. With the two girls gone, Mike turns to Scott. "How's Soren?" The man sighs and when sure no one is ear dropping, Scott tells him. "He survived the operation but he is still in critical and unless he gets his strength up… he uh.. he won't live for much longer."

Oh, Mike really hopes Soren will survive. Sure he is welcomed here even as a ghost but he really does not want another ghost child joining the fold and Hope much rather want a flesh and blood family member around. "Wish there was something we could do." Mike voices his thoughts, but as things stand now. All they can do is making sure Hope is safe and sound. Turning to the girl sitting beside Rena and watching her struggle with a simple conversation, Mike sees himself in Hope. He was very much like this back when he realized his friends were dead, but he refuses to put her through the same hardship as he did. This girl will have people she can depend on, not be forced to deal with this on her own like he did.

Leaving Scott, Mike walks over to the table where Hope meekly watches the other kids draw their favorite animatronic. "Hey," He gets her attention, both Hope and Rena turn to him, his eyes are solely on the young girl. "How are you holding up?" He asks her softly.

Hope wants to answer, tell others how scared she is but… she does not feel comfortable telling this to other people. She can't let her fear show, has to be strong, not only for her own sake but for Soren too. If she does not keep to his side, then the Rouge will take over and Soren really does not like that side of him. Without a word on this adult's question, Hope returns back to her paper, adding a few lines to this black spot she made.

Mike and Rena exchanges a look with one another, both worried that this girl is refusing to open up to them. Yet both know things like this takes time and is willing to wait for her get more comfortable around them. Mike leaves while Rena turns back to the quiet girl. "If you ever need to talk, we will be there." She tells Hope softly. The girl casts her a glance before returning back to turning her white paper dark grey.

In the realm of the spirits, Calem sits on the stage and watches the girl sadly. He feels sorry for her and although he cannot do much, he still decides to try. Leaving the restaurant, he appears at the hospital. Like a train station for those living, a hospital is crowded and is troublesome to get through without bumping into others.

He does reach Soren's room and frowns when he finds a grey spirit hanging around, it looks quite agitated. _'Help me out here! Just tell them I am still alive and put the machine back on.'_

Soren's spirit, sitting in a chair with seemly no care in the world, which is quite strange for Calem, tells this other spirit. _'Again, I am in a coma and about to die myself. So I can't tell people anything and second: you are dead, end of story.'_

 _'I am not dead! I am right here!'_ The spirit cries.

Calem decides to step in before he has to pull this distressed spirit away from Soren. _'Excuse me, could you leave for a moment?'_ But this spirit is too agitated by its situation to really listen. Guess he has to do this the hard way. Calem grabs the other spirit, shoves it outside and after having gone through as much of a fight this one can pull on something like him. He pretty much commands it. _'Take me where your body is.'_ For if he understands this correctly, then this one has just died. The spirit hesitates for a moment but does bring him to the place. As expected, Calem finds a scene of a middle-aged man, surrounded by several people. From the looks of it, Calem says that the woman and teenager boy is the spirit's wife and son and the others are either sister or close friend, he guesses on the first as that woman is seeking comfort with two elderly people, presumably the parents of the deceased. Turning to the spirit, Calem has to give it tough love. _'You cannot change the fact that your time is over, all you can do now is say goodbye to your family.'_

The spirit eyes each of the grieving people, white lines fall from the dots there are the eyes. _'I… I don't want to leave them… it's too early!'_

Calem puts a hand on this spirit's shoulders. _'I know.'_ After a moment of silence and watching the scene of the deceased wife kissing her former husband's hand as a form of goodbye. _'Go with them, you all need each other to move on from this.'_ The spirit nods and with some hesitating follows the slowly leaving people. It does stop at the door and asks Calem scared. _'What will happen to them without me?'_ But that he cannot answer. _'I don't know. All I know that sooner or later, you need to let go.'_ The spirit nod and leaves.

Calem turns to the body, it seems the man has been in a coma for a long time. The family must've decided that turning the machine off was for the best, perhaps it was, at least it would make them and the spirit to move on and perhaps start a new chapter in their life. Calem admits that even if he and the others get a second chance in life, they too will one day has to accept that it won't last forever. Even they will have to walk into this strange door leading to the unknown. And Calem will go, but not today, he still has some unfinished business, as all spirits of the animatronics have.

Returning back to Soren, Calem watches the more or less in limbo spirit. It's disturbing how apathetic he is about this situation. _'Are you giving up?'_ He asks

 _'I'm not stupid, the doctors said I do not have long.'_ Soren replies this other spirit, the one there was their guide to the safe house. _'Whatever I like it or not, this:'_ Gesturing at his spirit form. _'Is my new reality.'_

 _'And you are okay with this?'_ Calem asks.

Soren snorts, it does not matter if he is okay with it or not. This is just how it is and there is nothing he can do about it. _'Does not matter what I think. I will die in a few days.'_

Perhaps but: _'That does not mean you should give up.'_ Calem reminds this teenager boy. _'If you give up now, then you will lose.'_

 _'Why would it matter if I fought?'_ Soren demands annoyed, why can't this spirit see that even if he did, he will still die. _'I can fight for all I like. It won't change anything.'_

 _'You won't know that.'_ Calem says and must ask for although Soren says he has given up. Something about his former action contradicts his words. _'Soren, do you want to die?'_ He blinks when the lights in the room suddenly start to blink, the heart-rate picking up and turning to the spirit. Calem is startled to see Soren's form is acting up, still in shape of a teenager but black and white shadows whirl around in this shape and the orbs making the eyes are black, having a white dot in the middle.

 _'It does not… matter… what I want…!'_ Soren sneers, he tries to get his emotions under control, but it feels like he's trying to stop a tornado from getting formed. _'I never… had a choice in anything…!'_

He knows he will be pushing it but he needs to know what this kid wants. 'What do you want Soren?' He asks, at first he gets no answer, watching the teen struggling against his emotions, his powers going amok from how lights are flickering, his life support acting up and the spirits hanging nearby are swiftly keeping their distance of the powers coming from Soren. The people alive cannot, of course, see what is causing this, only that they need to ensure that the teen stays alive. While a nurse tries to get the life support back to normal again, Calem repeats his question, harder this time. 'Soren, what is it you want?!'

 ** _"I want to live!"_** Soren screams at this other spirit, he appeared for a moment in the living realm and scared the nurse into a frenzy seeing this ghostly figure in middle of the flashing room. She flees the room, and the haunting effect fades as Soren collapse onto the floor, his form is dark grey and black tears are falling from his eyes. _'Please... let me live...'_ He sobs uncontrollably, just for once in his life. Can't he get something he wants?

Calem hesitates for a second, still startled of the powers this kid has, a very edgy kid indeed and like their three alive friends, he much rather wants to deal with Soren alive. At least there they can help him better. Slowly he walks over to the crying child and puts a hand on his back, caressing Soren comforting. _'Fight my child. Fight, so you can live.'_ Soren nods slowly and checking the body of the teen. Calem is relieved that this major outburst hasn't damaged Soren's already weak body. 

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**welp, Jeremy's future does not look good, in fact I say he is pretty screwed. Soren is not doing much better in the present, a part of him is quick to give up but deep down he is a fighter. oh and if he survives, his outbursts won't be so... epic, he can only do that in ghost form.**

 **comments and requests for future chapters is always welcome.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I will be rather busy the next few days so there will only be one chapter this week.**

 **to Puntime Chica: XD you can tell both your shoulder angel and demon that I will see if any of those songs will suit a future chapter.**

 **to antoniedjones123: only time will tell if this will be the time where Jeremy finally kicks the bucket. huh, I wasn't aware of that, I never read/watched that far in One Piece.**

 **enjoy the story**

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Calem might have coaxed Soren to fight for his life, and although it got the teen out from the critical condition, it still didn't change the fact that Soren is too weak for any further operations. So all they could do is wait and see if Soren can keep up this fight.

This agonizing recovery from Soren didn't help on Hope at all. Poor girl tried so hard to keep on a brave face, but for the head staff, it is clear that she is terrified of the thought losing her cousin and that stressed her out so badly that she just did not have the energy to deal with anyone.

Noticing that Hope needs to be around people in order to feel better, yet also alone because of the high-stress thanks to the worry about Soren's condition, Jeremy suggests the others that they should show her the room downstairs. "It will be better than letting her stay in my house all day." This way they were closer to the girl and they can feel much safer in knowing no dark killer spirit will try and harm her with this placed filled with the light kind.

The others agree and after Hope has arrived the the resturent, Scott takes the very confused girl into the storage room. As he reveals the hidden room, he tells Hope for the first time in a hard tone. "Do not tell anyone about this room." A bit startled over the sudden change for the usual laidback man, the girl quickly nods that she won't and Scott leads her downstairs. They get greeted by a big gray cat, purring loudly while stroking its body up against both humans legs. Scott pets the cat, noticing that Hope is looking very unsure what she should do with Molly. Must be the first time she has been this close to a cat if she has no idea how to react to it. "This is Molly, she might try get upstairs but please do not let her." and after have shown Hope how to properly pet the cat, he tells her he has to leave. "Mike will come and check on you over the day, don't worry about the ghosts, Calem made them promise not to bother you down here." She nods slowly and with that said, he leaves Hope in this room.

With Scott gone, Hope sits down onto the bed, not really sure what to do. Molly decides what she can start with by jumping onto her lap, demanding to get petted. Hope obeys and while petting this very cuddly cat, she notices some sort of game console and ponders if she is allowed the play on them? Does makes her think about home, she and father always played games together. She misses him…

After have petted Molly for a while, Hope decides to risk it, moves over and starts the console. She almost squeals of joy when the game in the console proves to be Mario Kart, she loves that game! Picking her favorite character in form of Yoshi, it does not take long before she is having the lead in one of the maps and has a bunch of fun messing around with the other cars. Wish there isn't just the computer she has to play against, playing against other people like her father is much funnier.

She pauses the game of the sound of a door opens, expecting Mike but to her surprise and dread of having to deal with a stranger, a young man walks down the stairs. This orange-haired teen picks up the maiving for attention cat and sits down on the bed, watching the anxious Hope with a titled head. Putting down the cat beside him, the teen starts writing on a notebook and hands it to her.

This catches Hope by surprise, curious she takes the block, frowning at what this other one has written.

'Hello, my name is Thomas. I'm the mechanic of this place, my father is one of the spirits my uncle says you can see. And before you ask, no I cannot speak. Would you mind I play the game with you?'

Hope has to read this very strange introduction from Thomas several times to get that this teen is unable to speak. Eyeing this soon to be an adult who watches her carefully; seeing no malice in his eyes like some of the other kids Soren had to protect her from back when they still had a home. She does not fancy the thought, but she guesses he can't be all bad if he is the son of the probably friendliest of all the spirits.

"Sure." She tells Thomas slowly and moves to the side so Thomas can sit down beside her.

Thomas picks up the other console and after having received his writing block, he asks: 'how good are you at this game?'

Hope just can't help it. "Enough to beat you." She replies rather smugly. The other teen simply nods and picks his driver which is Luigi. He lets Hope chose the map.

At first, Hope is unsure if she should start a conversation with Thomas or just ignore him and play the game. She picks the latter since that sounds the safest way, but the more maps they get through the more she starts enjoying having someone to play with. Thomas is a good challenge, he is able to beat her in the game if she slacks off and that Hope is glad for it's boring to play against a newbie.

When Mike gets down, he smiles seeing that their two youngest are having fun, so after having laid down the plates with food, Mike leaves them quietly, not wanting to ruin this moment.

Thomas and Hope didn't notice him, only realized he must've been down here when they spot the two plates of now cold pizza.

Finishing the map, Hope leaves the game and start eating the pizza. Thomas joins her soon after, at first they eat in silence, broken when Hope asks. "Do you know why this place has so many ghosts?" Thomas gives her a confused look and Hope realizes that perhaps this one is not one of the people she should speak with this about. "um never mind…" and she turns her attention onto the cat and pizza.

It takes Thomas a moment to remind himself that this girl can see dead people. One of them being his father. He pulls out his block and starts writing his answer to her former question when done he hands the block to Hope and while the girl reads, he eats his pizza.

'I do not know the full story, but I do know that every animatronics here had at a time been possessed by a dead people. My father used to possess Spring the golden hare.'

"Why don't they do that anymore?" Hope asks confused, for the spirits does seems to want to be in those robots again for some weird reason. When noticing the confusions in the older teen's face, she explains what Soren once told her. "Forcing a spirit to possess something hurts them. Soren told me I never should try; that very action can make the spirit snap and hurt us." That might be the reason why he is so reluctant teaching her how to do those cool ghost tricks he at times does when getting emotional. Soren did once force a possession on a spirit, she still has nightmares how much that spirit wailed from the pain but Soren said it was for the best as that one would've seriously hurt them otherwise. Hope does most of the time takes his warnings with a grain of salt as her cousin is scared of a lot of things after his mother almost killed him. But she believes he was right when it came to that spirit, it was scary and she is glad Soren dealt with it.

Thomas starts writing again. 'Most of what you said went straight over my head. But when my father and those other spirits were trapped as you said. They seemed completely okay with it.' Adding after have taken a bite of his pizza. 'Maybe they just got used to it?'

Hope has honestly no idea, he shrugs. "Don't know, maybe I should ask them." But she can only do that after hours and there are some hours before this place closes its doors for today, so she and Thomas returns back to beat each other in the Mario Kart game.

After the last customer has left, Hope and Thomas leave the room downstairs, and when sure the cleaning crew is not nearby to hear. Hope asks one of the spirits. "Is it true you want to be trapped in those robots?"

The spirit, the one Thomas says is his dead father stares at her for a second before it replies. _'If it's possible, yes. We would very much like to return.'_ and she asks, to be sure this one knows it is going to hurt a lot. "You know it will hurt? Not sure how much but Soren says he thinks it's like being stuffed into a very small box filled with sharp knives. You still want it even with that pain?"

The other spirits turn, those not taking animatronic shapes all mutter among themselves that they much rather want to be invisible than go through that. The smaller spirits there takes shape of what the head staff calls the Toys looks very uncomfortable but they do not say they have changed their minds about this.

The spirit at times taking shape as the purple rabbit snorts as if it's not a big deal. _'We have already gone through it before, so it can't be that bad.'_ Hope blinks at this remark and asks it confused. "Is that why you at times changes form?" But from the confused looks they give her it seems they are not aware of this little fact.

These spirits are indeed weird but she and Soren did agree on trapping them in the robots again in exchange for staying here.

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"Hey kid, I was thinking of going out and get you some more clothing." Jeremy calls into the room he gave Hope as long she lives here. The girl does not have any proper clothing other than what he had for April when she came on visits and forgot to pack enough. The only problem that April is three years older than Hope and quite the tall girl, so when Hope wears it, she looks smaller than she already is and Jeremy would prefer this kid has clothing of her own. "We're leaving in ten minutes, so finish off what you are doing." Ten minutes and the girl joins him at the door, and Jeremy is happy Hope is not of those kids who think that ten minutes mean a half hour.

The drive to the clothing store happens in silence, the girl still not much up for conversation. She does ask what kind of clothing she can pick when they arrive at the spot. "Whatever you like as long it's not too expensive." Jeremy replies and lets her run off, Hope is however hesitant doing that, he realizes the reason to why: It's because she feels safer around him.

"Your brother is really nice, bit weird though, he keeps playing around like a child." Hope points out very suddenly and Jeremy has to bite his lip not to snort a laugh of how well the hit that on the nail. Also, it is sort of nice to know that Martin is nearby, still sucks he can't hear or see him.

The shopping went rather well, Hope was very thoughtful in what she picked and as they leave the store, Jeremy carries a bag filled with several sets of clothing and won't have to complain how big of a dent it made on his wallet, girl was very mindful on what she chose. And since Hope didn't spend all day picking clothing, Jeremy decided they can get something to eat before going back home.

Had to tell the girl she will only get ice cream after she has chosen some real food, so she got herself some spareribs and barely five minutes after she got them. Jeremy has to fetch more napkins for the girl has the meat and its coating all over her face. Must admit that he is quite amused, Hope is not of those 'vegan' girls he dealt with as a kid. Nope Hope loves meat and Jeremy has a strong feeling that he has to tell her to eat green for otherwise, she will only eat meat and pizza. Oh and ice cream, she really likes ice cream.

"When was the last time you got ice cream?" He asks her.

"When mother was still alive." Hope replies in a strange matter of fact tone which catches Jeremy quite off guard. He did forget his brownie cake for a moment just so he can get his head together and reply the girl properly on the sudden dark subject. "How long ago was that?"

Hope shrugs, she's not sure anymore. It feels like forever she and Soren has been running around on the street. "Don't know." She misses her mother and wishes her spirit would appear but she can't because… well, the Twisted One ate her...

"Oh my god, Hope, I finally found you!"

The ice cream gets completely forgotten and fearfully Hope leaps away from her chair, swiftly hides behind Jeremy and his just as surprised spirit brother. The servant of the Twisted One only stop approaching her when Jeremy gets up from his chair with a harsh. "Back off lady, the kid clearly does not like having you near." and the servant replies with a laugh in the attempt to hide the danger she embodies. "Oh, poor thing just forgot about me. It's okay, I'm her aunt." The woman eyes her but Hope no longer finds comfort in this woman, less so when she has found her.

"Let's get you home—"

"No! stay away from me!" Hope cries and tighten her grip on Jeremy's shirt. "Don't let her take me!" The surrounding people all look up and starting to get wary around the servant. Hopefully, they will make sure her aunt won't take her and finish the job on her and Soren.

Okay, Hope really does not want to get near this woman claiming herself as her aunt. Jeremy puts a hand on Hope as a sort of shield. "Kid staying with me." That, the woman did not take nicely, in fact, this refusal of handing Hope to her made her get a look in her eyes that made his skin crawl. "I am her guardian and she belongs to me!" She almost lunges at him to get the terrified girl. "You have no right claiming her, so give me my niece before I call the police!" and Jeremy retorts back to this crazy woman. "Go ahead! I'm not letting Hope off my sight unless you prove you have the guardianship!"

The woman did and the police take all three of them to the station. Here Jeremy makes sure he speaks with Detective Williams about this sudden issue. "She claims to be Hope aunt but even if she is…" He turns to the girl sitting at the detective's desk with her sage colored eyes fearful watching he proclaimed aunt rant to another police officer. "I don't think you should let her. Kid practically fled away from her."

Detective Williams can see too that this girl going by the name Hope is really afraid of that woman. "I will need to check up on this before I can say what is going to happen." and decides to ask the girl as it will make his job somewhat easier. "Hope, is that woman really your aunt?" The girl nods. "Please don't let her take me…" She begs him fearfully and he asks after have claimed his notebook. "Can you tell me the reason to why?" Almost drops it when Hope replies in barely a whisper. "She's going to kill me… she killed Soren… "

It might be a kid's word against this woman but Nathan will stay on this terrified girl's side. He does not want to deal with another child murder case anytime soon if he can avoid it. "Was Soren your friend?"

"Soren is my cousin."

Jeremy decides to give a bit more details to the detective as Hope spoke as if Soren is dead. "He's at the hospital, recovering from a knife wound."

Can it be that knife wound came from that woman? God, how can Soren's own mother harm her son this way? It seems like they are dealing with a case of an attempt on murder, will be if Soren will die from his wounds. "Alright, I need to speak with the woman." Nathan says and suggests Jeremy. "Until we know further details, I want you to keep an eye on Hope. I will call when we know more."

Jeremy nods and starts leaving with Hope.

The moment the aunt saw this, she began ignoring the detective question her, demanding as she storms after the two. "Don't you dare take her away! She's mine and so is Soren! Mine!" Nathan and his co-worker stops her and The detective has to restrain her from trying to pursue the now really scared girl and glaring man. "Ma'am take a seat, we're not yet done asking you—"

"Let go of me!" She screeches at him and if he hadn't kept her hands restrained already, Nathan is certain she would've left scratch marks over his face. "You can't let him take her from me! She belongs to me!"

That woman is crazy! Jeremy thinks on how she is practically fighting the policemen just to get the shaking in fear Hope. Detective Williams gives him a look there clearly says he should leave, no arguments there. "Let's go." He tells Hope and leaves the room and the screeching like a banshee woman.

Hope clings to him as if her life depended on it and he does not blame her. That woman was insane and dangerous if Soren's wounds came from her.

"Will she take me?" Hope asks, her voice shaking with fear.

Jeremy eyes the girl and squeezes her hand lightly. "No, we won't let her take you." He replies, but Hope is too afraid and still has trust issues from how doubtful she is about his promise. It seems she is smart enough to know that unless the police find evidence that her aunt is dangerous and not just a distressed aunt wanting her niece back, then the police is forced to give Hope to her. Well, Jeremy won't let her, he's going to keep that promise even if he has to fight that crazy woman for it. 

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**now you know who the crazy woman is, and what lead Jeremy to drive right into the claws of the Twisted One.**

 **chapter and song suggestions are always welcome. and until then, I will see you the next chapter**


	9. Chapter 9

There are advantages in being on really good terms with a police officer, for thanks to detective Williams, the three current owners of Freddy's got the warning that unless they have proof they have the right to guardianship from the girl's father, then; "We are forced to return the girl to her aunt. We haven't found any clear evidence she attacked her own son and without his testimony." The detective lets out a long tired sigh and takes a sip of the coffee Scott gave him. "We have no proof she is dangerous to them."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Jeremy snorts and does question the men working at the police station if they think that crazy woman is no danger to Hope and Soren. "I wouldn't let my brother 's kids near that woman."

"And her unhinged attitude is the only thing there saves us from returning the child right away." Detective Williams points out and is very relieved this woman does not hide that side. "She is currently under investigations on how sane she is. But I must be honest: things do not look good. Her whole attitude changed when she went to the psychologist, and they are starting to think she only acted up because of the mental stress from the worry of not knowing where the children were and the great relief in seeing Hope is making her very possessive of the child." Nathan is however quite skeptic about that conclusion. No child would've been that scared that if the adult finding them meant well, he told that to the captain and since his boss knows his gut instinct often is correct, the captain has agreed on keeping the aunt away from the rights to the girl for a while longer. "Spoke with the captain and we will stall the 'family' reunion until we figure something else out. That's where you come in." The Detective eyes the three owners. "The kid likes you and it's clear she wishes to stay. So here's the deal. I am willing to pull a few strings at the station on allowing the girl to stay if you get the father to sign these:" He puts down folder holding papers about guardianship on the table. "And you have a lawyer that can take this case."

That is going to be troublesome, Mr. Afton made it very clear that he did not want to know where the children are and if the Twisted One is indeed Nightmare, then that black spirit will recognize them and follow them back to the restaurant. Making the father's attempt keeping the kids safe unsuccessful. But what other choice do they have? Has to speak with Mike and Jeremy how to tackle that problem. Then there is the issue with a lawyer. Scott knows one, the very same man who helped him get the ownership of the animatronics and make Freddy his heir in case anything would happen to him. Sure hope Kate's husband is up to this task, he is the only one Scott would trust with this. "We will see to it." He promises the detective.

Nathan nods and has to leave them for now. "Need to get back to the precinct and return to my former case. Good luck."

With the detective gone again, the three eye one another, well aware of the problems they soon have to face. Jeremy especially does not fancy the thought. "Feels like getting thrown to the wolves…"

Mike nods in agreement, not one bit looking forward to this. Jeremy fully understands why, his last meeting with one of those black spirits forced him into a deadly coma and Scott as well, although his wasn't that deadly. Must say he too has a bad episode with a black spirit, he still wears the scars from his encounter with that rabbit from hell. However, and he hates this self-sacrificial side of him, Jeremy volunteer he should do this. "Trust me, I much rather want to avoid one of those monsters, but if it can keep those two kids safe from that woman, then the hell with it."

Must give the man credit for his guts, Mike wouldn't have walked into danger like this. "You sure about this?" Jeremy has no idea what he will face if the black spirit throws him into this dreamscape Nightmare did to him and Scott. He wouldn't know how to fight it, then again, Mike has no real idea how Scott managed to put up a fight in that place.

Giving the young man a look. "Someone has to do it, but I am not stupid. A guy like me doesn't stand a chance against a black spirit." That's why he is planning on dragging one of their own spirits with him. "Hey Calem, are you listing?" He calls out to the room.

A ghostly figure of the man appears, nodding in the sign he is indeed listening. Good. "Talk with the others, I need one of you to ensure that black spirit doesn't kill my ass when paying Hope's daddy a visit."

Good to know that Jeremy wasn't that stupid to go without backup. _"I will speak with Freddy about it. He should be strong enough to keep you safe."_ His brother is aware enough to know something is up, so maybe being active for once will put him in a better mood.

After have told Freddy about the situation, Calem turns back to the alive people. "He agreed on helping you out. When you head out I will remind him on this again." For sadly; "They can't form new memories in these states…."

"Alright, I will leave early tomorrow." Jeremy tells the spirit and after Calem has left again, Jeremy turns to the two others. "Meanwhile, I suggest the two of you find ourselves a good lawyer."

"We should use the lawyer I used to get the ownership on the animatronics." Scott suggests and quickly explains that this lawyer is trustworthy since he is the husband to Kate and is willing to take the challenge. Scott blinks when Calem appears again, asking much to his and the two others surprise. _"Let me talk to them."_ Scott wouldn't mind but, well… "Uh sure but… um how? You can't appear like this and um don't you have trouble staying in your robot form?"

Calem is aware but he is sure the two Mediums might have a solution to that little problem. His memory is a bit fuzzy, but he is aware that his last talk to his daughter didn't come to a proper conclusion and one he very much want to finish.

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With a new goal in mind of doing a proper possession of his animatronic body, Calem decides to hear the two Mediums if there is a way he can do it easier. He should be able, for Nightmare and that shadow of Spring both was able, so why can't he?

He asks Hope about this, but it quickly turns out that she has not really any idea how it works.

"Soren has only started teaching me." Hope explains the guide spirit, her cousin had been a bit reluctant in teaching her but fortunately, he relented when she explained that she wanted to learn so she can help the spirits better in the future. Hope is sad knowing she has no idea how to aid him as it stands now. "Sorry, but you will need to ask him about it."

Now he sees why Hope at times calls Soren for the wizard, he is quite powerful Calem admits that, plus he has the knowledge how to make said spirit powers work; he sure showed that during his outburst. ' _Alright, I will speak to him. Anything I should say from you?'_

"Tell him I miss having him around." Hope replies, she did consider saying that he is more worth than the rouge side of him thinks but she is still hesitant revealing too much to these people after have been on the run for so long.

Calem nods and teleports off, he arrives at the hospital and inside Soren's room, he finds the teen in a better attitude about his situation, he no longer pretends he does not care that he will die, instead Soren's spirit is as far away from his body as the link binding him to it allows and sits at the window, watching the world outside.

Calem walks over to him, deciding that first he will give the boy Hope's message. _'Hope gives her regards, she misses having you around.'_

 _'That's nice to hear.'_ Soren muses, he is glad that there is someone in this world who truly cares about him. He thought his mother did as well, but wouldn't she have put up more of a fight when she stabbed him then? He is pretty sure she would, the Twisted One got her on its side fairly easily, like she deep down despised her freakish son. That did confuse Soren, for he never truly revealed his ability to see ghosts to her. Was it because he encouraged Hope? No, it can't be it. He always made it look like a simple game of pretend. Now thinking about it, Soren has no idea what made mother turn against him. Only that the Twisted One did something to her, and that terrifies him, knowing that even someone who never wants to hurt him will if that monster gets them. Soren turns his gaze away from the streets and to the spirit there guided them to this place. _'Can you fight a dark spirit?_ ' He asks, for if this one can't then… there is no safe place for them.

It's clear this boy is afraid of the one hunting them, Calem does not blame him. No one wants to be hunted like this, less so by family. ' _I can.'_ He replies the teen, he has proven to be able to fight and chase away dark spirits. Not sure if he can win a fight against Nightmare, maybe, if he is in a cheerier area. Fazbear Fright's dark history seems to have been what made him defenseless against Nightmare.

Well, he will have that in mind when walking in a place with the history of death. Soren lets out a sigh of relief from his reply. _'Good'_ and the boy returns to gaze at the people down on the street. Calem walks up beside him, joining him in watching the outside. He does blink in surprise when Soren suddenly says. _'The old man on the bench, he is a Medium.'_

Calem follows his finger and spots an elderly man sitting on a bench, staring directly at them. That is quite the surprise. _'How rare is this ability?_ ' He asks the Medium besides him.

Soren shrugs. _'Not sure, I think more people have the sight than the world think.'_ Turning back to the fellow man of the sight who has lost interest in them. No wonder, people like them quickly will realize that hospitals are filled with spirits. _'I don't think that one has the full sight, so all he will see is a ghostly figure. Those like Hope can see how the spirit looked like back when they were alive. With proper training, she can manipulate the spirit world to some extent.'_

 _'What about you?'_ Calem asks.

Soren shifts on his spot, not really feeling comfortable about that particular subject. _'I… I rather not talk about it.'_ He muses weakly, for how a Medium becomes this powerful is a path of death and sacrifice. Shaking that thought aside, Soren asks the spirit of a middle-aged man. _'How did you get your powers? Did you have the Sight back when you were alive?'_

It seems the boy is not yet ready to tell about that part of himself. He respects that and instead will tell Soren about himself. 'No, I was just an ordinary man back when I was alive.' And must admit as he… well sort of got these powers when he became Fredbear. _'I had these powers when I woke in my animatronic form. At first I wasn't aware of them and when I did, I only got able to control them after a lot of practice.'_

Soren turns to this spirit, surprised by what he told him. _'I have never met someone like you. Usually, only deceased Mediums has such powers.'_

Those words catch Calem's attention. _'Wait, are you saying you can't go angry specter when conscious in your body?'_

Soren shakes his head. _'No, I don't know why, but a Medium only becomes stronger in their powers when they do not have a body.'_

' _Is that's why you wanted to die?'_ Calem asks, blinking when Soren turns away with a deep scowl on his face. _'Why fight to stay alive if no one cares about you?'_ Ah, Soren is one of those people, it's a pity the teen already has such thoughts at this young age. _'Hope cares deeply about you.'_ He tells Soren and although he hasn't known the teen for that long. _'You might not believe me, but I and my friends at Freddy's worries about you as well.'_

This takes Soren quite off guard that complete strangers worry about his well being. _'Why?'_

 _'They all know the pain of losing someone, and none of them wishes to see you leave the world of the living when you still have so much to live for.'_ Calem replies the teen softly. That is the main subject of when the others want Soren to live and Calem thinks it's for the better too that Soren joins them alive. Sure if he dies they can help him with a suitable animatronic body, but Calem must admit he prefers dealing with this kid's hidden temper without the uncontrollable ghost powers.

He knows from experience how hard it is and he had his emotions under control, this kid does not so Soren can do a lot of damage if he gets emotional and Calem is pretty sure that's won't help on the kid's already low self-esteem. _'If you let them, we all, let it be alive or the dead; we want to help you.'_

Soren looks away, it's bit hard because of the ghost form but Calem thinks he is blushing from hearing that people care about him. It's rather sweet to see a tough and paranoid kid can still become flustered.

Calem only speaks his true reason in being here when the kid has recovered from his bashful moment. _'I have seen dark spirits do it, so I am a bit confused why I can't make proper possession. Any idea as to why I am failing?'_

 _'I uhh, it could, I think-'_ Soren fumbles, has to stop and after have gotten his awkward fluster under control again, he turns back to the spirit, about to lecture it but stops when seeing the goofy grin on the spirit's face. He shifts uncomfortably, relived spirits does not have as many emotions as a live person. _'Stop looking at me like that.'_ He grumbles and this time he keeps his gaze firmly onto the floor as he asks. _'How do you possess the body? Do you take control of the whole object?'_

Oh, Calem here is going to have fun teasing this kid, for behind that apprehensive and aggressive attitude is an awkward and easy to embarrass kid. Bigger reason Soren should stay alive, for teasing a teen about to go through puppetry is way funnier than a dead and gloomy one as he will become if losing this battle. Anyway, back to the main topic. _'I do- is that the wrong way doing it?'_ He asks the teen, tilting his head in confusion.

Soren nods, finding it silly that a powerful spirit like this one does not know how to do a simple possession. _'Yeah, it's like trying to control ten computers there only deals with one thing in the machine. You need to control one computer and let the machine do the work for you.'_

Okay, that's way simpler than he thought, explains why he couldn't control anything other than the head. _'Makes it easier, I put that in mind the next time I try possess anything. Say, is this the same way you will do it when you seal us in the robots?'_

Again Soren shifts uncomfortably of that side of the deal. _'Um… no, that's a full body possession.'_ He muses weakly, he has only done it once before and has quite the nightmare about it. That spirit screamed in pure agony from getting trapped in its vessel and although Soren does regret doing it, he still thinks it's better having it in that body instead of having to deal with it in spirit form. Besides, that thing asked for it when it attacked Hope's daddy. William does seem to care about him but Soren is uncertain how much the man truly cares for him, he does have a feeling William only will care as long he protects Hope. _'That's why it will hurt a lot, not sure the hurt will ever stop…'_

 _'Over time it will.'_ Calem says, he and the others know that from experience. _'Don't worry about this, those of us asked for this want it.'_ Soren slowly nods and with a: _'Take care.'_ Calem leaves the hospital.

At Freddy's one of the cleaning crew members sweep the floor around the two golden animatronics, humming to the melody coming from his headphones, this humming does turn into a startled and quite a girlish scream when the golden bear suddenly collapses right in front of him. Horrified the man watches the animatronic raise slowly onto its feet and when opening its eyes, the animatronic going by the name of Goldie stares at him with eyes no robot should have. The man flees, calling for one of the owners that they have a problem.

Turning away from the discussion with Scott, Mike dread what has freaked out one of their employees, giving the other CEO of Freddy's a quick glance before both hurries into the game room to see what the problem is while Jeremy speak with the freaked out employee.

Inside the game room, Mike scans the place for anything pointing at danger, there is no smell of fire nor signs of one coming, the Toys are fine as well, standing in sleep mode at their spot. A sound makes both him and Scott turn to the book corner and there they see what scared the man of the cleaning crew.

"No way." Mike gasps overly surprised, yet unable to keep back a large smile crawling up to his face.

Out from the corner walks Goldie, fully functional and sentient like he was a year ago.

"Believe it, Mike, for I am not planning on leaving." Goldie speaks and although he feels like when he was in his broken state of not being able to feel much, he is thrilled to be able to fully walk in the realm of the living.

* * *

 **Welcome back Goldie and soon goodbye Jeremy**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hia! I am back again, sorry for the long wait, writing has been kinda hard. so suggestions or just your thoughts on what you like in this story will be a huge help. it sure helped me get through writerblock in the past.**

 **it is time for a song! this time it is "I got no Time" made by The Living Tombstone.**

 **and to Crashlix** **: I am sorry to say it, but there won't be more Facing the Past audiobook, voice actors kept leaving and I am too busy writing fanfiction to worry about that too.**

 **enjoy the story**

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"It's not perfect, I can't keep track of all systems. Still, it is better than appearing as a mere ghost." Goldie explains the three current owners, Freddy's biological sister and Spring's son. All of them more than happy to see him again, the cleaning crew, on the other hand, are staring wary at him and they better get used to this for he is not planning on leaving this body for quite a while. "I might try and teach this to the others." He points out but has to warn them. "But they might not have enough awareness for it. I can because I can for some reason form memories even without the chunk inside my now long gone skull."

Jeremy and Scott both facepalm at his rather bad joke, much to his amusement.

Recovering from that quite dark joke, Scott asks. "Are you planning on paying Mrs. Caito a visit like this?" To his surprise, Calem replies in an unsure manner. "I am honestly not sure. I can possess my human body but what will she say seeing her father appear on her footstep?" So he knows, when did that happen? "How long have you known?" Scott asks. The others are more surprised to hear that Kate is the daughter of the golden bear.

Eyeing his former fellow co-worker of Fredbear family diner, that job- that life seemed so distant now. "Kate told me not long after the EMP attack." He notices that Thomas has become fidget for some reason, he decides to ignore that for now and instead explain the group of that quite long ago conversation. "She deeply regretted what she did to us, I wish to straighten it out with her but I am unsure I should do it as Fredbear or Calem."

"What do you think will be best?" Jeremy asks back.

Goldie is not sure but must admit. "I admit I prefer doing this as Fredbear, with the things going on with Soren, I do not think it's time for talking with Kate as her father but instead as one of the animatronics of Freddy's."

Can see his point, still, Scott does think Kate would prefer talking with her father, but this is Calem's choice. "When are you planning on paying her a visit?" Blinking when the golden bear asks with a somewhat awkward smile. "Could you ask her when she got the time? I hate to drop in during an important meeting." Oh, yes that would be pretty bad. Scott nods that he will and leaves the group to make the call.

Turning to the blond, Goldie promises he will speak with Freddy about tomorrow's mission. "Without his ability to form memories, I highly doubt Freddy remembers to aid you."

"How will I be sure any of them will keep us safe then?" Jeremy asks for if they can't form memories then how the hell are their ghost friends suppose to know what they are doing?

"They know something is up when in the moment." Goldie explains, nodding to Mike. "That's why Freddy remembered that something was bothering Mike and got at my throat about it." Said man shift on his feet, which does remind Goldie. So turning to Mike. "What did you tell him anyway? Last time I saw him like that was when robbers dared to threaten our customers."

They got attacked by robbers? Must've been before his time at this place for Mike does not recall that. Anyway that he can think about later, right now the reason to why he spoke to Freddy. "Detective Williams came on a visit, he wanted some help about a case of a mall thief." From the look in Goldie's eyes, it is clear the golden bear knows what he is talking about. "One of his co-workers got jumpscared and that ghost description suited your human form a tad too well." Mike crosses his arms, frowning. "Care to explain why you did it?"

Guess he can't avoid it… Goldie had hoped none of the others would know about this low point of his. "I can't say I am proud of have scared that man, he was after all only doing his job. I scared the man because Soren warned me that if the police catch them; they would die. I did not understand it back then, only knew the fear from the two was real."

"So you attacked." Jeremy says, the golden bear nods. Well, what Goldie did was pretty bad but there is a big silver lining. That policeman did only get jumpscared— not attacked as he, Mike and Scott would've if it had been in another situation. Plus, knowing about the crazy bitch now, it is clear that she is the reason to why Soren feared for his life. If not for them keeping the kids away from their mother/aunt, would that woman have snapped? Probably not and the police might've taken the kids fear been paranoia from have been on the street for too long. "I can't say I consent in how you protected the kids but I can say you did the right choice keeping them away from the police. That woman is bad news and no way in hell I want her near the kids."

That Mike fully can agree on, although he hasn't met this crazy woman, he knows Jeremy wouldn't say it unless he meant it. Like Jeremy, he does not agree on how Goldie scared that poor man but he can look past it as Goldie did do it to protect two children in which one of them is currently fighting for his life. Speaking of which. "If Soren survives, I think we should make Detective Williams aware he is the thief he is looking for." Adding mostly to himself. "He can't arrest the kid, but I think to let both know that stealing has consequence will be best."

"Both were very aware that stealing is bad." Goldie points out and he might have let them when they were on the run but now that they are relatable safe. "But I agree, the detective should know about this. Soren knew it was bad but I get the sense he does not care much about moral."

The two men nod but like Goldie, this subject can wait until Soren has recovered and both not in danger of being dragged away from their unhinged aunt/mother.

"I'll be heading home now." Jeremy says and leaves the small group, he does grab Thomas on the way as he has the duty to drive the young man to his home. "Got a long drive tomorrow."

"I will make sure Freddy travels with you." Goldie calls and Jeremy simply gives a thumbs up, not really worried the oldest of the robots will forget.

About there, Scott returns to the group and tells Goldie. "Kate has agreed on meeting you at her home tomorrow at evening. She uh, she wishes you stick the bear form." Not entirely sure why but Scott has a feeling she too is uncomfortable talking business to her deceased father. Maybe the face of Fredbear will make both Kate and her father think they can ignore the relation between them? He has no idea, Calem has weird ways in doing things and it seems his daughter has them as well.

Goldie nods. "Alright, I will do my departure at that time."

"Um Goldie?" Said gold colored animatronic turns to Rena, she knows it is silly but she really wants to know. "How is my brother doing?" Goldie's eyes soften and he replies in a somber tone. "He is confused about why you do not hear him anymore. Like the others, Fre- I mean Sean is only half-aware he is no longer inside the robot." Hearing this breaks Rena's heart, but what did she really expect? That he knew he is gone and misses her? He would if he could form memories but Goldie made it pretty clear Sean and the others can't and thus stuck in a weird form of Limbo. She nods slowly. "I see… if you… if you speak with him again, could you say I miss him?"

Goldie turns his gaze to one of the nearby tables, for even though he is in the world of the living, he can still see the other side and thus he can see Freddy stand nearby with the same heartbroken look on his face. "He knows Rena, he misses you too." Very certain that in this very moment of awareness of the situation, the ghost of Sean feels the loss of not being able to be with his biological family. Goldie is not sure if it's a curse or a blessing that the moment Rena leaves, her brother will forget this moment and tomorrow again will be confused why she does not hear him.

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The next day, right before opening, Scott pulls Mike aside to ask the man if he feels comfortable enough to take the guard duty all on his own now Jeremy is out to speak with William Afton.

"It's alright if you do not feel ready for it, all things consider what you have been through." Scott says and is still relived Mike is not dealing with major post stress disorder from all the horrors Vincent put him through. Yes, Mike does have his panic episodes but so far none of them have been major.

"I will be fine, but I won't pick a fight without a sentient robot to back me up." Mike lightly jokes and Scott, a bit reluctantly lets him do his job as security. Mike do appreciate the worry Scott shows but he is certain he can handle their costumes but if there arrive any robbers then he will have to say they should let the robbers get the money, for he is NOT ready for such confrontations.

Fortunately, such things did not happen nor any reason for a security guard. Mike likes to think that their customers decided to be at their best behavior in him simply being there. Maybe made the job a bit boring but Mike is not complaining and while standing and being mildly bored, he ponders if he should pay Soren a visit and see if that kid really is the one Nathan showed him at that security photograph.

He decides he will and after have gotten a few words from Hope he should bring to her cousin, Mike heads to the hospital after closing.

A nurse brings him to the room and it startles Mike to see all the machines surrounding this teenager boy. It does take him a moment because of that but Soren is indeed the boy he saw on the photo. "So you are Soren." Mike muses and is not really sure if he should be wary around this young thief with powers like Vincent and Marion or he should pity this one for being hunted by a monster like Nightmare. Maybe that's the reason why Vincent turned into what he was, being hunted by both the living and the dead. Mike has no clue of knowing and he is glad he cannot ask his friends killer this question, he's content enough that bastard is dead and gone.

Mike steps over to the bed but stops halfway when the heart monitor spikes and the table lamp starts to flash slightly. Mike stares a few seconds at the flashing lamp, then at the heart monitor and ends on the comatose boy. Something is making the kid angry, or scared, hard to tell really. Does Soren think he is in danger? The heart monitor raising numbers is starting to worry him, so Mike decides to call for a nurse before going over to the bed, taking the kids hand. "Easy there, I am not one of those people trying to—" he never gets to finish the sentence.

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Mike finds himself inside a disorientated room, the walls are moving like water and the light changes which would've made him very nausea if this has been reality but with his new keen sense of knowing when he is in a supernatural dream realm, Mike finds himself less affected by the weirdness.

Soren must've thrown him into one in his panic attack, now the question is if this was intentionally or accidentally. Mike begins to walk down this watery hallway, but do stop when the wall beside him starts to get weirder than usual. Turning to get a better look, he jumps when a face of monster Freddy appears, if this has been reality then Mike would've gone into a panic frenzy seeing that the mix of his friend's robot form twisted into a nightmarish monster. Nightmare Freddy gets himself free from the wall and step right in front of him, the smaller goblin Freddies crawl around the bigger one as monster fleas. Mikes stares back at the monster Nightmare created, a being he has dealt with in his own nightmares ever since he got away from Nightmare but in his own dreams, Nightmare Freddy is relatively harmless but in this place the monster can do a lot of harm.

 **In your mind, I am simply a nightmare but in his, I am the tormentor.**

"What?" Mike eyes wide of what Nightmare Freddy just said, the monster's goblins all grin down to him as the nightmare replies the one who created it in this realm.

 **By his powers I am giving flesh, by the torch Nightmare forever residing in him, I will torment the one he should not have killed.**

Wh… What is Nightmare Freddy talking about? Before he can ask the monster from his nightmares, the monster animatronic disappears. Mike decides to follow, he might not understand what it spoke about.  
All he knows that Nightmare is really going to hurt Soren.  
Suddenly something grabs his foot and Mike falls flat onto the floor, looking up he sees another manifestation of Nightmare's vision of his friends' animatronic form. This time of Chica, the monster vision of Chica walks past him, as if she cannot see him.

 **Don't get closer, you are playing a game you cannot win.**

Nightmare Chica stops and turns the blood red eye- the same as Nightmare at him

 **I was the first, I have seen where this path will lead; misery will be my only friend.**

And she disappears. When sure this nightmare monster is gone, Mike gets on his feet, searching this labyrinth for Soren but instead of a teen he instead finds Nightmare Foxy and Bonnie. The latter catches him and lifts him up into the air, trapped in the claws of this monster.

 **We are giving form by your mind, flesh by his powers. I know you are not the right one but he cannot see who was the one there ended his life.**

"He is still alive…!" Mike retorts back to Nightmare Bonnie, he has no idea how but he struggles against the monster animatronics grip, if this has been in the waking world he would've been frozen stiff.  
Nightmare Foxy stalks into his line of sight, walking in a bent forward manner as a wolf trying to stand on two legs.

 **Alive or dead makes little sense to him. All that matter is the prison we are all trapped inside, no matter how much he searches, the key he can never find.**

Nightmare Foxy licks himself over the metallic and heavily broken mouth with his unnatural long tongue.

 **Thanks to you helping us gaining flesh, the Nightmare will rise again.**

It's still unclear to him how much of his own imagination or of Nightmare's influence these monsters are, whatever the case, he has heard enough to know they are really bad news. Mike somehow succeeds to kick Nightmare Bonnie in the eye, making the monster to let go of him and Mike runs as fast he can down this wavery hallway, hoping he will be able to find Soren before the nightmares will get to him.

 **The Nightmare has just begun, the joy of life is nothing but a lie.**

Mike scans the hallways and almost stop in his startle when he sees a white face with black tear linings under the eyes, but like the others, the Marionette has been twisted into a nightmarish vision of himself.

 **Give up, give in to death. We all know you are a monster deep inside, only a monster does not care about others.**

That feels like the Nightmare Marion is not talking to him, could it be talking to… "Stay away from him!" Mike shouts at the monster, no way in hell he is letting Nightmare torment a kid.

 _'I got no time_  
 _I got no time to live_  
 _I got no time to live and I can't say goodbye'_

He spots the teen but no matter how much he calls, Soren does not hear him, trapped in this nightmare created by both of them.

 _'And I'm regretting having memories_  
 _Of my friends who they used to be_  
 _Beside_ me _before they left me to die'_

Soren looks up and the nightmare animatronics have him surrounded, he's too scared to move.

 _'And I know this is_  
 _I know this is the truth_  
 _'Cause I've been staring at my death so many times'_

Nightmare Bonnie strikes him and now there are two of the teen, one dead and one alive, lying paralyzed in bed.

 _'These scary monsters roaming in the halls_  
 _I wish I could just block the doors_  
 _And stay in bed until the clock will chime'_

The dead Soren fades into the floor and the one on the bed turns on a flashlight, scaring away the Nightmares.

 _'So my flashlight's on, and stay up 'till dawn_  
 _I got this headache and my life's on the line'_

Mikes tries to reach him but Nightmare Marion tackles him down.

 _'I felt like I won, but I wasn't done_  
 _The nightmare repeats itself every time'_

He kicks the puppet off and tries again to reach Soren before the whole dead scene happens again.

 _'Got to keep my calm, and carry on_  
 _Stay awake until the sun will shine'_

Just as he is about to reach the teen, a bright flash and the whole scene is gone.

 _'But I'm not so strong, and they're not gone_  
 _They're still out there to take what's left of mine'_

Unaware of the other person, Soren shields himself when one of the Nightmares attacks, they begin to tear him apart and in a fit of rage he throws them away.

 _'I have this urge_  
 _I have this urge to kill'_

He walks towards the recovering nightmares with a deadly cold demeanor

 _'I have this urge to kill and show that I'm alive'_

He does not stop even when the nightmares take human forms

 _'I'm getting sick from these apologies_  
 _From people with priorities_  
 _That their life matters so much more than mine'_

Soren only realizes what he has been doing when the corpses of four children at the same age as her lie before his feet.

 _'But I'm stuttering_  
 _I'm stuttering again'_

Horrified he turns around and flees from the scene.

 _'No will listen and no one will understand_  
 _Because I'm crying as much as I speak'_

The corpses return back into their nightmare forms, watching the fleeing teen.

 _'Cause no one likes me when I shriek_  
 _Want to go back to when it all began'_

He grabs a flashlight and turns to the out to attack again nightmares.

 _'So my flashlight's on, and stay up 'till dawn_  
 _I got this headache and my life's on the line'_

They disappear this time.

 _'I felt like I won, but I wasn't done_  
 _The nightmare repeats itself every time'_

In their place a golden colored bear monster with blood red eyes appears, freezing Soren stiff in his place.

 _'Got to keep my calm, and carry on_  
 _Stay awake until the sun will shine'_

Mikes runs as fast as he can towards the scene, determent to stop this madness.

 _'But I'm not so strong, and they're not gone_  
 _They're still out there to take what's left of mine'_

And right before Nightmare Fredbear gets the chance to torment the poor kid further, Mike grabs Soren's hand and pulls him away from the nightmare's claws.

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Mike opens his eyes and takes a moment to realize that he is back to the waking world, turning around he notices that there can't have gone that much time for the nurse just arrives and asks him to step aside. He does and lets her give Soren something to calm his panic attack from that quite dangerous nightmare. When the heart rate has gone down and the nurse leaves, Mikes takes a seat before the bed. After a moment of hesitating he takes Soren's hand and is quite surprised that he feels a light squeeze. A surprise but a good sign so Mike returns the squeeze and quietly watches over Soren, letting the comatose boy recover from his way more harmful nightmare.

* * *

 **I must admit that I was thrilled to hear voice acting from the animatronics in the Custom Night game. but I am pretty sure what they said has nothing to do with what I am planning with this story.**

 **I will see if I can get another chapter out next week too, but no promises, I still have a lot of trouble writing anything down lately...**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm not dead, only still struggling with certain points of the story. as I warned you in the start, I only have the main plot but no real side plots which are those focusing on character development. I will go in the bit deeper details on what you can do to help in the endnotes.**

 **to Dinovictor: takker, stadig jeg ville gerne give både dig og de andre læser et fast tempo af kapitler, men det har været svært.**

 **the song "Mr. Fazbear" is made by Groundbreaking.**

 **enjoy the story.**

* * *

To say she is nervous about this meeting is an understatement, Kate is terrified! Their last conversation ended pretty bad and she fears what her own father was going to say- will say now that he figured out a way to come back. That's why Kate wanted him to come as Fredbear, it will make it easier if things goes bad. Easier to ignore the fact of who is controlling the robot.  
Kate feels a pair of hands on her shoulders, and Kate is so relieved to have found such a loving husband as Askr. He squeezes her shoulders lightly. "Don't worry, hon. He's not the kind of guy holding grudges and especially not against family." She knows but still… "A lot can change when you have gone through hell and back. And I was part of fault of it…"

"I highly doubt they share that line of thought" Askr points out, he may not have been fully part of this whole sentient animatronic thing but he has seen how happy the robots seemed after his wife put them through that huge upgrade and makeover.

Kate is still not fully convinced though. "But—"

"Your husband is right."

Both turn to the middle of the living room and the golden bear animatronic standing there, Kate tense and afraid to speak or move, so Askr breaks the ice by walking over and offers the bear his hand. "You must be Fredbear- or do you prefer Calem?"

Well isn't this an open-minded fellow? Goldie already like this guy Kate chose as her romantic partner. "Goldie is fine." The two shake hands and Kate's husband introduce himself by name. That helps Kate to shake off whatever fear held her back and she joins them. Goldie's red meets her honey-colored eyes and he gives her a weak smile.  
Kate returns it and after a moment, she steps over and hugs him which he wants to return but he cannot control the many sensors so he won't know if he will hurt her. "Sorry I can't return it." He chuckles weakly and explains the pair that he can't feel a darn thing. "So don't bother to offer me a drink- unless you want a broken glass."  
The two nod and slowly they all walk over to the couch to sit.  
Askr readies a paper and pen, going in business mode. "So, how can we help you Goldie?" and Goldie must say as this attitude towards him is really weird in a good way. "Wish there were more people like you Askr, most people would freak out if they were in your situation."

"Yeah, he is a pain in the ass to surprise." Kate jokes and feels way calmer talking to the robot holding her father's soul, it's clear he holds no ill thoughts towards her and if he does then he is smart enough to save it to a later date. Askr chuckles at her words but does agree. "She's right, no idea why but stuff just doesn't take me off guard." That does help him a lot, several of the cases he has dealt with has been really weird even for Kate's standards. But back to the main topic. "Tell us what's the problem."

So Goldie does, not leaving any detail about the problem they are currently dealing with about Soren's crazy mother- who might have been the one who is the cause to why he is in the hospital in the first place.  
Kate is shocked hearing about this, while Askr sits quietly in deep concentration so he won't miss the details. When Goldie finishes, Askr writes down some notes. "If you get those papers from Hope's father and this police officer is willing to make a statement to the judge on his thoughts that woman is not safe for the children. I can make a strong case that will win you the rights to the two, but it does need some work from your end as well."  
"Whatever it is, we will do it." Goldie replies.

It is both complicated and rather simple. The complicated stuff he can, fortunately, help them with. "One of you has to be part of the foster parent program. It will make it easier for me to persuade the judge you are a better option than their mother/aunt. The paperwork will be a pain but with my help, it shouldn't be that bad."

So glad they have a lawyer on their side, plus he is really a nice guy, Kate sure got the jackpot with Askr. That's what Goldie thinks. "Alright, can you give me a note of what we should do and we will go straight to work." Askr writes him instructions and with those in hand, he thinks it's best to return back to the restaurant. Before he leaves though Goldie must say to his daughter. "The upgrade is what saved us, for that we are eternally grateful." Kate eyes wide in surprise, then a smile of relief replaces it and she nods. "Thank you, father." He smiles and teleports back.

Wrapping his arms around his wife. "One more thing on the list of weird things I have done as lawyer." Askr muses, causing Kate to laugh. "Not as boring the school let you believe?" The school never taught him such things but Askr is not complaining that he gets off the wall weird cases, it does makes the load of paperwork worth it.

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A week has passed and still no sign that Jeremy is returning and no matter how many times Scott calls him, he always get the voice mail. "Something is wrong, he never leaves the phone like this." He voices to Goldie and asks the equally worried bear. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

Wish it was that simple. "I have no idea where he is, I can pay Hope's father a visit but that's all I can do." Goldie replies and thinks he will do that for what if that dark spirit has caught him? "Come with me, I think it's best you explain him the situation." Scott nods but suggests they better secure this place before heading out. So Goldie turns to the spirits watching worried from the scene. "I fear Jeremy is in danger, I and Scott will head out and check on him. Can you make sure this place is safe?"

'Of course, we will keep this place safe' Martin sprit replies and worried for his brother's well being: 'Please bring him back alive.'

"I will do anything in my power to keep him safe." Goldie promises and turns to Scott who is explaining Mike of what they are planning.  
Mike is understandably scared but he knows he will be safest here. "Okay, bring him back alive and… you will help out Freddy as well?"  
His adoptive brother as well, he hasn't returned either but he is at least a bit better off than Jeremy. "Jeremy is our first priority. When we find him I will search for Freddy." Mike nods and with that set, Goldie puts a hand on Scott's shoulder and teleport them both away.

They arrive at the place where William lives, here Scott takes the lead and when the creator of the animatronics opens the door, Scott quickly explains who he is and the other man goes into a state of panic. "You can't be here, the last one barely made it..!" And he would've closed the door if not Goldie stopped him, the golden animatronic red eyes meet the man who built his first robot body. "We need to know when you last saw our friend Mr. Afton." William stares wide-eyed at him for several seconds, then, slowly he nods and let them both inside. He takes a seat and a moment of silence later, the man asks confused and also curious at the same time. "What kind of computer did you put into Fredbear? He sounds so alive."  
Scott eyes Goldie, the golden bear nods and Scott turns back to the man. "Well, you see uh, it's not the software but the spirit inside of Goldie who does the talking."

William blinks. "Spirit? You mean Fredbear is possessed?" His first animatronic nods and explains. "The story on how that happed is too long to explain at the moment." Adding in a harder tone. "But I will suggest to greatly reconsider the design of the springlocks." William winches in both embarrassment and horror that his work was the cause of this man's death. "…If it's any consolation… I didn't improve on that design either… too many safety precautions but-" he sighs and feels really stupid saying this. "The pay was too big to pass up..."

"Do us all the favor and don't recreate that design." Goldie tells the man hard, he would really hate to see other families get torn apart over another freak malfunction.

Scott does understand Calems reason for this, he too never liked the springlock designs but right now they have more important things to worry about than an old design flaw. "Mr. Afton, can you tell me when you last saw our co-worker; a man going by the name Jeremy Fitzgerald?"

"Of course, but it's not much." William nods and tells them about that meeting and how his prison guard got incredibly angry. " The Twisted One chased after him but something stalled it, I don't know what it was—"

"Must've been Sean." Goldie muses and tells the confused creator. "He is the spirit of Freddy Fazbear, I asked him to keep Jeremy safe in case this would happen."

William nods slowly and tries not to give in to the urge to ask further question about this possibility that all of his former animatronics have a spirit inside. Instead, he returns back to explaining what happened afterward Freddy's spirit got into a fight with the Twisted One. "He wasn't able to keep the Twisted One at bay for long and that black spirit chased after your friend. the Twisted One has returned a few times and last time… well, it sounded like he caught your friend."

Goldie and Scott exchange worried looks with one another, latter asking the other man. "What happens to those people the Twisted One captures? Does it kill them?"

"If they are lucky." William muses. "There is a reason why I and the kids call this spirit the Twisted One. If he sees a use in the victim, then he will torment them until they break, then he will brainwash that person to obey his wishes- to become his agent of whatever twisted deeds he has in mind."

"Thank you for telling us this." Goldie thanks the man and leaves along with Scott, outside and safe from unwanted ears, Goldie let his calm façade drop for what William told him is deeply troubling. "We have to find Jeremy quickly or he will turn into like the very same woman we are trying to keep the kids away from."

Scott nods, also troubled by this revelation. "Let's hope Jeremy is as tough as I think he is." For they need time to figure out where the Twisted One has their friend

Back at the restaurant, Mike gets the call from Scott that he and Goldie won't return as soon as they thought. "The search for Jeremy is tricker than we first thought." Mike worry increases and sure hope they soon will find the scarred blond. "Alright, I'll keep the fort until you return." He turns off the phone and worried eyes the stage where the animatronics are doing their show, he wonders if his spirit friends are aware of the situation going on in the realm of the living.

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Mike finds himself in a room he never wants to be in ever again, the only saving grace is the sense that this is not the real place but a dream. But why is he here and better yet; who is causing this vision? He turns on the camera screen and watches the older forms of his friends and the moment the camera settles on Freddy, the bear eyes the camera.

 _I am the leader of this small crowd  
Didn't want the part but  
Nobody would hear me out_

Freddy's eyes turn black and for some reason, the camera zooms in on the bear.

 _I hold the weight on both my shoulders  
My soul gets colder  
While we get older_

When the camera zooms out, the scene has been replaced with a large Parts and Service room. Freddy and the three others are broken down from the time they were used for parts.

 _I have to watch  
As all my friends break down_

Freddy leaves the room, forcing Mike to change camera

 _While I have to plan our revenge_

Mike jumps when Freddy suddenly appear at the door

 _Tell me what it's about_

And to his horror he has no way to close the doors, allowing Freddy to step inside.

 _I'm the one who has to  
Get my hands dirty_

Freddy walks inside, seemly unaware of him.

 _Take it upon myself and  
Make sure no one hurts me_

Freddy disappears and on the screen, he is staring back into the camera.

 _I'm no different but the  
Others they chose me_

And all the other animatronics minus the golden ones appear.

 _They call me Freddy so just  
FOLLOW MY LEAD_

And an old game of keeping the deadly robots at bay begins once again. Mike flips away from Bonnie and spots Freddy walking down the hallway.

 _They call me_

Chiara appears at the door, he closes it and then when opening again, Theo stands there.

 _My name is_

A rotten Freddy suddenly appear at the other door.

 _They call me_

And right before him appears Nightmare Freddy

 _My name is_

Nightmare Freddy grabs him

 _I'm the one in your nightmares_

The monster vision of Freddy disappears and from the screen, the rotten Freddy stares back at him

 _I'm the phantom you fear_

Theo in form of Toy Freddy stands on the stage, watching the camera.

 _I'm the toy who comes alive in the night_

and out from nowhere Freddy is standing at the door, his eyes glowing in the dark.

 _I'm the one behind the laughs you hear_

Freddy glitches, ending with him as human. Sean leaves the door and Mike follows.

 _I don't remember  
Why am I here?  
All I know is vengeance  
And all I know is the fear_

He glitches back to Freddy and he cries up to the sky.

 _Please give me purpose  
I want to live!_

Freddy drops his head and starts walking down this bleak hallway

 _Is this how it really ends?  
If I had a life to give_

The bear stops very suddenly

 _No, they can't see me like this_

Shadows of the other animatronics can just be spotted in the darkness

 _I have to be strong to the end  
Whether or not I like my role  
I'm stuck and I have to seek_

Freddy spins around and with black eyes attacks Mike

 _OUR REVENGE_

Mike takes the run for it. While running the whole place seems to change. Looking back, Nightmare Freddy is now the one following him.

 _They call me_

He tries to get away by going down a sideway but consider otherwise when that hallway is in flames and out from it, the rotten Freddy stalks towards him.

 _My name is_

Turning around Toy Freddy is walking towards him.

 _They call me_

And lastly, the original Freddy appears, right before Mike.

 _My name is_

Nightmare Freddy appears from the shadows.

 _I'm the one in your nightmares_

Besides him the rotten Freddy manifests

 _I'm the phantom you fear_

Toy Freddy spreads his arms out as if standing on a stage

 _I'm the toy who comes alive in the night_

And Freddy, standing in the middle laughs

 _I'm the one behind the laughs you hear_

"This is not who you are!" Mike cries to this cruel vision of one of his best friends. All the Freddy's watches him menacingly for several painful seconds, then Freddy's eyes wide and the others disappear.

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Mike snaps awake and he realizes who caused this dream vision. "Sean!" He calls and struggles to get up from the bed, his body is sour from have cramped up during that vision. "Sean where is Jeremy?" He asks, fearing the worst if his friend got this messed up by the Twisted One and he is already dead. He forces himself out of bed and hurries upstairs to the robots.  
Freddy glitches and the black eyes appear, Mike is very close to fleeing when those white dots land on him but restrain himself when Freddy speaks. "Follow me… he is… near." The eyes return to normal and the animatronic slumps down when it's no longer possessed. Mike hates to do this but he cannot see Sean on his own. He hurries downstairs, wakes Hope and explains her quickly: "I need you to tell me where the spirits are going, one of them knows where Jeremy is." She nods, already understanding how serious Jeremy's disappearance is.

She gets in her clothing and upstairs, gets even more aware of how critical it is to find the man who has housed her. The one spirit calling himself Sean and at times takes form as the animatronic going by the name of Freddy has signs he has been in contact with the Twisted One.  
 _'_ _Hurry, time is running short'_ Sean says and swiftly leaves the building. Any other spirit follows him, Hope and in turn, Mike does as well.  
"Here." Mike hands her a helmet, she takes it on and jumps on the scooter. While Mike drives, Hope keeps a sharp eye on the pack of determent spirits, lead by Sean. "They are going that way." She points the moment the spirits change coordinates. Mike follow her lead, not even going bother to stop when traffic light red, he only checks for possible cars. Hope has no idea how long they are following the spirits, only it is for a long time for when the spirits finally stop, she is freezing from the autumn nightly weather.

"Stay here." Mike tells Hope as he jumps off the scooter. No need for her to guide him anymore for waiting for a bus stand no other than Jeremy. Mike calls for him and is not sure he should be surprised that Jeremy does not react on him. Approaching the man, but not too close just in case Jeremy will attack. "Are you alright?"  
Jeremy eyes him and Mike can't help but think of someone in deep pain but unable to show it from the gleam he gets in the blond's green eyes.

"...I'm sorry."

That's the only warning he got, Jeremy attacks and only Mike's suspicious this might happen saved him from getting caught in a stranglehold. He wants to shout to the blond he should snap out of it, but it's clear that Jeremy is in control but like a prisoner broken, Jeremy is more afraid of the punishment the Twisted One will do than resist the command to attack someone he cares about.  
Suddenly, a light appears and tackles into Jeremy, swiftly taking shape as humanoid. Mike stares at the sight of this light spirit is holding Jeremy down as if it was a black one. He has an idea who this might be: Martin. Only he would go so far for his brother's sake.  
The spirit of Martin jerks away from the frozen Jeremy when the shadows start to move away from them. Mike is not afraid to say that he screamed when the shadows took the form of a monster with white glowing eyes.  
This monster in shape of some sort of canine with shark teeth, it's white eyes glare at the spirit of Martin.

 **"Move aside Spring or I will have to hurt you."** Twisted One warns the other spirit.

Martin returns the glare. _'_ _you already have. Leave my brother alone!'_ He snaps back.  
The Twisted One stalks towards him and he reacts by taking shape of a white, almost glowing hare, standing as a shield over his brother and the frozen stiff Mike. This does catch the black spirit off guard but it quickly recovers and with: **"Last warning, you cannot win against me."**  
Martin refuses to move, so Twisted One charge at him. The two spirit's clashes and for out lookers this fight will easily be mistaken for the manifestation of light and dark fighting one another. In some sense it is.

The Twisted One, barely known love and comfort back when it was alive, fear from others has been its lifeblood and that earned this spirit the title as a black one. While Martin, in life he was surrounded by people who cared for him even from the trauma and hardship his death brought. Martin refused to give up his optimistic point of view on the world. For when push really comes to shove, Martin is willing to fight for what he believes in, so of course, he will fight this black spirit in order to protect those he cares about.  
The Twisted One tries to scare him, throw visions of what will happen if he keeps resisting against this black spirit's wishes but the visions of his family, his friends getting hurt only fueled his need to keep on fighting. _'_ _I won't let touch anyone from my family!'_ Martin roars into the monster's face.  
The other spirits of Freddy's, fully agreeing on Martin, blast themselves into the Twisted One. The united attack and too much positive emotions to protect those they care about. The Twisted One loses most of its energy and for a moment takes a humanoid shape.

Flabbergasted by the epicness of that fight, Mike takes a moment to notice the battle has ended and stares at the defeated Twisted One. The now humanoid spirit turns to him with those white eyes, Mike notices that this spirit does not look like the human shape Nightmare prefer to take. That demon bear preferred the shape of a sickly looking woman, this dark spirit has the shape of a fit man. The shadows around the human form are way calmer yet stronger than Nightmare's. In that moment, Mike realizes that the Twisted One and Nightmare are two different beings. "W-Who are you?" He asks the defeated spirit, not really sure why he asked that.

The spirit chuckles and gets on its feet. **"** **All in due time Mike** It returns to an animal form, this one a bit different than the former, ears are shorter and sort of looks like the mix of the canine form and Nightmare's bear form. Mike didn't have time to get a better look before Twisted One disappears, leaving him with the burning question on how this black spirit knows his name?  
That mystery is however quickly forgotten when Jeremy groan out in pain and relief from the Twisted One has released its grip around him. Mike hurries over to the blond and helps him up in sitting position. "Are you alright?"

"No." Jeremy replies, he is far from alright, that black spirit broke him and if it hadn't been for his brother… He would've been the Twisted One's servant and killed those he cared about…

* * *

 **so now you know, Jeremy is not dead, but he might wish he was. I admit I was greatly considering him to die but- and don't judge me- I really don't want him to die, but it won't put him in the safe zone.**

 **anyway, back to how you readers can help me make this story better. if you have any wish on what you want to read, tell me. for example, how do you think Jeremy will be dealing with how Twisted One turned him against his friends? all of this will greatly help me and in turn, you will get new chapters sooner. so I'll say win-win on both sides.**

 **hope you will help me out, so until I get a new chapter ready.**  
 **till next time.**


	12. Chapter 12

**so sorry about the long wait, I have really been struggling weaving my scattered thoughts into one story. I have a few suggestions about how you guys can help me with it but that can wait till after this chapter.**

 **enjoy!**

* * *

Mike knocks and after a moment, Jeremy opens the door, the man looks like he hasn't gotten much sleep and it takes a fool to not know why. "Can I come in?" Mike asks, ever since the rescue, Jeremy has refused to return to Freddy's. In fact, the man did not trust himself and has refused Hope to live with him so she is currently living at Freddy's with Mike. Truth to be told this does worry everyone at Freddy's from how Jeremy has sealed himself away in his own house. Mike can somehow relate to this as he too has been tormented by a black spirit, there is a major difference though: Nightmare wanted to kill him while Twisted One aimed to break its victim's mind.

Jeremy does not answer him, he simply lets him inside and returns back to sit on the couch and stare emptily at the television. Mike notices right away the spirit sitting on the couch's backrest and is sort of happy that Martin has been with his brother in these hard times, even if his help is rather limited.

Turning away from the spirit Mike tells the painfully quiet man. "You might not like what I am about to tell you, but I think you should see a psychiatrist." He tells the man. "I know a good one—"

"If I tell anyone but the main staff at Freddy's what that spirit put me thought; I'll end up in a mental hospital. And no way in hell I will tell you, bad enough I am dealing with this crap." Jeremy interrupts him, he might be mentally broken but he still has his pride. "It broke me but I am not insane." He drops his head, letting out a defeated sigh. "...At least not yet…"

"This one won't think you insane." Mike points out and explains before Jeremy can snap at him again. "Mrs. Grey helped me after the death of Vincent and before that— well according to her, Marion had sessions with her." As hoped this caught Jeremy's attention, the blond eyes him surprised. "She treated that murder puppet?" He asks and turns back to the television, with an angry frown more like his old self. "She didn't do a very good job…"

 _"I think her sessions was what made Marion tolerable."_ Martin's spirit points out from his spot.

Hearing Martin speak like Calem catches Mike very off guard. "When did you learn to do that?" And Martin replies a bit confused. _"Learned to do what?"_ Which only makes Mike the more confused.

So Jeremy explains for both. "Martin's power surge gave him a few perks, this:" He points at the visible spirit. "Is one of them, but his memory is still like a fucking strainer."

 _"What did you expect from one not having a brain anymore?"_ Martin retort in his usual playful tone.

"Point taken but explaining you stuff over and over is starting to get one hell of a nuisance." Jeremy points out but he is still glad he can talk to his brother, it has really helped him stay sane these past days.

Mike has a feeling about that as well, he knows how close those two are and how much they depend on each other when things get tough. "I still think you should try this. You can't sit and let the Twisted One keep control over you." He would really hate to lose another friend after Steve got killed by Vincent only a year past.

Mike got a point, even if he's not trapped by that monster, his dreams are still tormented by the torture it put him through, sometimes he even hallucinates its voice demanding him to obey it. Jeremy is terrified by that thing and knows he won't stand a chance if it tries to catch him again but… hell, he does not want to become like that woman! He does not want to be another hunter for those two kids. They have enough crap to deal with already. "Alright..." Jeremy sighs. "I talk to this Mrs. Grey." Mike smiles. "Where does she want the session to be?"

"At Freddy's."

Jeremy blinks. "The fuck?" Completely ignoring his brother lecturing him that he shouldn't swear that much. He turns to the other man and asks dumbfounded. "Why the hell does she want the sessions there?"

Mike can't do anything else but laughs of Mrs. Grey's reason. "She was starting to get bored and figured the place could use one with her talent." But he thinks it's more likely that Mrs. Grey rather want to be around the place where her granddaughter is haunting, maybe also be closer to people she cares about. Mrs. Grey is getting up in the years and going places are getting hard for her. Jeremy throws up his arms, exclaiming exaggerated. "Sure, why the hell not?!" Mike can only laugh in agreement.

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Scott opens the door and helps Mrs. Grey out from the car. "Thank you." She smiles and walks towards the doors of Freddy's, it goes a bit slow but it's not like she is bothered by it and those waiting for her arrival all are thankful that she does all of this to help them out, so none of them complains her taking the sweet time doing stuff.

Inside the restaurant, Mrs. Grey greet Mike as if he was a grandchild of hers and hugs the young man. "So good to see you again Mike, how is business going?"

"The same like last time." Mike replies with a small smile. The moment she releases him from the hug, Mike introduce Mrs. Grey to her new patient. "This is Jeremy Fristgeral." Jeremy offers her his hand and they shake. Before he can speak, Mrs. Grey comes with a rather weird yet hilarious remark. "Ah, Marion mentioned you a few times. Said you were one of the easier ones to recognize thanks to your fierce temper."

….He is not sure if that should be taken as a compliment or insult. "Uh…" Mrs. Grey chuckles and tells him still quite amused. "He said a few other things about you, but those I will not say. He might be gone but I still have patient/doctor confidentiality with him as well I will with you Mr. Fritzgeral. Whatever you speak during our sessions will stay between us and I will only reveal our conversations if you give me clear words that is your wish." Jeremy has been to a psychologist before so he already knows about this law but to hear this old woman saying it as well as her being calm about the spirit world. That eases his thoughts. He nods and by her request, they head into the office.

Mrs. Grey takes a seat on the manager's chair, ready her notebook in case there are subjects they both wish to return back to in the future. "Mike told me you are dealing with serious nightmares and sincere trauma from your encounter with—" she checks her older files, one of them are the notes from her sessions with Marion. He too had great trauma with one of those things. "A black spirit, nasty creatures. They know nothing else than causing harm on others, empathy is not in their nature." She eyes Jeremy behind her reading glasses and does not blame him one bit in showing signs of terror of the mere mention of such a creature. "If you are not ready to speak about it, we perhaps should speak about something else. Your encounter with it is still very resent, after all."

"Isn't that's the reason why you are here?" Jeremy asks a bit confused, he fully expected he had to talk about his encounter with the Twisted One. Mrs. Grey smiles, a warm, understanding smile. "Only if you wish, the goal of our sessions is not to 'fix' you but to figure out how you best can handle your personal problems." Her smile fades and watches him seriously but not in a manner that makes him feel she is judging him. "Do you think you are ready to return back to what it did to you?" He wants to say he is, show he is not weak but… he is so scared, the mere thought of having to relive that again… "No…" He muses weakly and feels like such a coward. The only saving grace in all of this that Mrs. Grey shows no sign of irritating or disappointment, she simply nods and asks. "What about we talk about something else? Your family perhaps?" He blinks at this and she elaborates. "I know you lost your twin brother to a terrible accident."

"Yeah, but I have already gotten over that- I mean I am still angry the management didn't pay more attention to the safety precaution. If they had then my brother would still be alive today and not being stuck as a robot hare. Of course, he doesn't really mind, idiot can see the silver lining in everything."

Mrs. Grey writes a few notes, for a moment Jeremy thinks she writes her thoughts on his words but checking he realizes she simply write what he has been saying, her own thoughts are not included at all.

"Tell me how you dealt with this unfortunate loss." Mrs. Grey requests her current patient. "You weren't aware of his entrapment in Spring were you?"

Jeremy shakes his head. "No, I thought him to be gone for a long time." He didn't really mean it but he told Mrs. Grey about his messy experience of trying to get to terms that he never would see his brother again and with that loss of his twin brother… he lost a part of himself. He told her on how angry he felt, at Freddy's, the world, and himself. But that anger, in reality, hid the mind-breaking grief and loneliness he felt from losing his other half and the only thing that kept him sane all those years was his iconic anger and his determinating to keep Martin's memory alive.

Before he realized it, he has spoken for hours and only took notice when a knock on the door reminded him of the time.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but dinner is ready" Scott speaks through the door, he feels a bit bad interrupting this very important session but Jeremy and Mrs. Grey need something to eat.

Mrs. Grey packs her notes. "Thank you." and turns to her patient. "I would like we returned back to this topic next week."

He nods in agreement. Jeremy is not sure but talking to this woman about his reaction on the death of Martin made him aware of how much he depended on his brother— how much he still depends on him.

He didn't talk much with the others during dinner, nor when he returned back home and for a small hour, Jeremy just sat on the sofa, staring out in space. He only reacted when he spots a ghostly figure over at the shelf filled with the pictures of him and Martin. The newest one is showing him getting almost crushed by Spring's hug. "Hey, Martin." The ghost takes a sharper form and Martin turns to him with those white dead eyes, Jeremy completely ignores the fact he is talking to a dead guy. "Do you remember the vacation to Spain we went with our parents?"

 _"Heh, yeah."_ Martin's spirit laughs softly. _"It was just after the barn incident. Man, I felt like you when mother kept telling me to keep the shirt on so my wounds wouldn't get a sunburn."_

Jeremy laughs, remembering how glad he felt he could go in the scorching heat without a shirt and simple has to wear a cap. "I think that was the first time I actually heard you use a swear word."

 _"Mother was not happy."_

"Can you blame her? You used it on her!" Jeremy laughs and when done pouting, his brother follows suit. Talking nostalgia with his brother like this really lighten his mood, and not even Martin's lousy memory could ruin it. 

* * *

**things will get better for Jeremy, he has people who want to help him and giving enough time, he will recover from what Twisted One did to him.**

 **now, how you can help me and in turn, I can give you** new **chapter faster. give me suggestions on something you want to happen in this story. it will greatly help me put these scattered ideas into one more solid chapters.**  
 **I hope you will help me out with that, if not then you just have to be patient.**

 **until next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

Halloween is approaching. Mike, Rena and Thomas spend most of their time swapping ideas of what they could do to advertise this celebration at Freddy's. They came on many good activities for their customers such as carving pumpkins, a prize for best dress up and a scary, yet fun game of tag. They also wanted to make a small show. "A Halloween song the animatronics can sing every hour or so" Rena suggests to Mike, he can make such a song if giving enough time.

Mike too finds that as a brilliant idea "oh yeah! I think I got a good one in mind. You need to tell the customers on our page this show might not be suitable for the smaller kids."

'Is it that spooky?' Thomas asks through his notebook.

Mike smirks to him. "Sort of, I am thinking on basing it on the past Freddy's." Thomas frowns at the thought of reliving those past restaurants real horror. "I know, but I want to do it. Call it my twisted sense of therapy."

Thomas rolls his eyes and writes: 'whatever, just be sure to have the song ready so I can program the bots for the show' Mike promise he will but he can't help feeling a bit sad the animatronics can't do this show along with them. He can't and won't do much thoughts about this wish though. Soren and Hope will help the spirits back when they feel ready and Mike wants them both to be recovered from their past hardships. Speaking of which. "I will begin on the song right after my visit with Soren." Luck is really on that boy's side. He awoke from his coma not long ago and according to the doctors; he is recovering nicely.

"Oh yeah, I hear he should be healthy enough to leave the hospital soon right?" Rena asks and does look forward to that poor boy join them and hopefully, they can make life better for him. Mike nods that Soren indeed soon will be joining them, that is good news, something they clearly all can use from what happened to Jeremy. "Oh, I hope he can join the Halloween festivities." She quickly glances around and when sure the one she will talk about is too busy playing at the arcade, Rena tells the two boys. "I told Hope about our plans and I have never seen her so excited. I hope we can give both her and her cousin a wonderful day."

'We all could use an enjoyable day where only someone's costume is scary.' Thomas writes with a large grin on his face. The two others laugh at his silly joke before going back to the planning.

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Mike leaves Freddy's about an hour later and heads straight to the hospital. "Hey, Soren." He greets the young teen and takes out a plush he brought from Freddy's. "Don't know if you consider yourself too old for such things but…" He hands the boy the Goldie plush. "Here, and if it starts moving, it's probably Goldie. He did make the joke he would possess it for the laughs." To his joy, Soren quirks a smile at that stupid remark.

"Thanks." Soren takes the plush, it's the first gift he has gotten from before all of this mess happened. Mike's remark about one of the spirits might possess this plush- "Goldie isn't really going to possesses it, is he?" It's bad enough that one keeps visiting him as simply a spirit. Soren does not need to scare the doctor's further by his new toy suddenly starts to move around, he does still feel bad how his bad dreams made the lights flicker and scare those who are supposed to help him recover.

Mike takes a seat on the bed, smiling to the kid. "To be honest: I never know what Goldie will do, he's bit of a goodhearted troll." He has to struggle not to laugh from how weird it is when Soren's shyness gets replaced with a snarky teen. "Great... well at least now I can throw him at a wall." Mike shakes his head at Soren's remark. "Try not to do it too much. Can't have you reopen your wounds."

"Yeah..." Soren muses as he would like to leave this place. "I am getting sick and tired at this place. Hospital is the worst." Adding to Mike, one he for some reason has come to like really quickly. "And it's not the food I am talking about."

He thought that wasn't the case, if what Calem told them holds any clues then hospitals are filled with confused— some of them newly deceased spirits and Soren has the reluctant honor of being able to see them all. "Don't worry, you should be able to leave soon." He ensures the kid and after a moment of thoughts, Mike decides to tell him about what is going to happen after the hospital. "When the papers are ready you and Hope will become my wards, meaning I will be your stand-in parent until your uncle will be able once again."

Which Soren highly doubts will ever happen. Twisted One is too set on keeping William caged. "He only will the day the Twisted One will leave this world for good, and that day only happens when I and Hope are dead." Soren likes Mike and doesn't think he would mind have this guy as a stand-in parent but… "You shouldn't take us. The Twisted One will break you as it did to that other guy."

"We can't leave you two to fight it on your own." Mike points out, but Soren has other idea and the teen snaps. "Well, you should! People around us get hurt! People around me die!" Mike stares surprised at the anger coming out from this tiny teen, it's clear this has long been bothering Soren, it's like he expects people to turn against him but secretly cries for help that someone can protect him. That's what Mike gets from Soren's vibe and he might not be the best but he can't turn his back on someone who needs help, less so when he fully knows the pain when that help never comes. "We fought Twisted One once and won, we can do it again, Soren." The boy's dark brown eyes, once filled with anger and despair, wide slightly to then slowly, the anger fizzles out, replaced with tears. "I don't believe you…" Soren whispers and angrily dries away the tears. "You'll be better off if you left."

Mike puts his hand on Soren's, he wants to tell the boy he won't leave him alone in this but he's unsure how to say it, so he hopes the gesture is enough. Soren does not move for what feels like forever, then, very sudden he shifts so he leans up against Mike's right arm, crying quietly. Mike feels incredibly sorry for the boy, he can only barely comprehend the hardship Soren is going through, nothing compared to his own past hardship.

He hugs the crying boy, giving Soren the comfort he longed for and although he clearly has his work cut out with this boy, Mike refuses to abandon him, as he knows how much it hurt being alone and have no one to help nor knowing how to call for help.

At the corner of the room, Calem's spirit watches the somber scene, he does quietly leave as it's clear now it's not the time to speak and ruin this clearly important moment. The talk about Mike's new apartment can wait, it's not like Mike is going to be thrown out from his current sleeping quarters just because he delays in the search.

He wanders around the hospital for a bit, talking with a few of the spirits hanging around, he even goes outside and takes a seat beside the man Soren said could see spirits as well.

The elderly man was kinda weirded out by this but slowly just accepted him and returns back to sit and watch the nearby lake and the bit of wildlife residing there. Calam must admit that he too find this a bit weird, but more in a funny way. When he figures the moment between Mike and Soren has passed, Calem gives the elderly man a polite nod- which the dumbfounded man returns- and a somewhat amused Calem returns to the room.

As hoped the moment has passed and Mike leaves the room to give Soren the rest he needs.

Checking the hallway for unwanted eyes and when sure no living beside Mike are in the area, he steps into the realm of the living. _"I am glad you and Soren are getting along."_

Mike flinches slightly from Calem's sudden arrival, fortunately, the aware spirit was thoughtful enough to appear a distance from him. If Calem has done it right before him, then Mike would've jumped and probably caused a ruckus. "Me too, kid has a hard shell." He admits and glances back to the small teen inside the room. "Hopefully in time, he will get out from it."

Calem nods in agreement, he steps closer and says in a quiet voice in case a nurse is nearby. _"I spoke with Martin and we both agreed it would be best I stayed close to Soren. You know, in case Jeremy told the Twisted One about the location."_ If they are lucky, then that won't happen from the beating it took from Martin and the others.

Oh… right, that is a large possibility Jeremy did that. Mike is sure the blond resisted as long as he could but Twisted One broke his spirit and had Jeremy under its control, so yeah… that black spirit probably knows Soren's location. "Maybe it's best we move him." Mike suggests but Calem shakes his head.

 _"No, I will keep the boy safe. Don't know how but I— and now Martin as well, we are the opposite of a black spirit."_ Calem explains, he knows that both he and Martin can fight the Twisted One and win. A hospital might be a place where a lot of people meet their end but it is also a place where lives are saved, it's a place of hope and sadness. So in a sense, a hospital is the neutral grounds for spirits, the Twisted One cannot gain strength at this place as Nightmare could in Fazbear Fright. A light spirit like him wouldn't either but there is an exception and that is the one he protects; one who hopes for a better life.  
Footsteps further down the hall reminds him that he's not really something people want to see. _"Oh, Rena found you an apartment but others want it so you better hurry see it's something for you."_ He tells Mike and disappears back into the realm of the dead.

"Thanks, Goldie." Mike says and leaves the hospital, way more at ease doing so now he knows Calem will keep Soren safe. "You better not tease him too much with that plush." He muses as he puts on the helmet with the thought he probably is going to hear about it if Calem did start messing with Soren in form of a plush vision of his animatronic form.

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Halloween is fast approaching, and Rena feels like she can't do anything other than tinker with the animatronics as she keeps finding bugs in the programming to the song Mike made for the show. Thomas is not doing better, but he caused his own overload of work since he wanted to build a scary Spring for the show, something about he refused to give those song lines to this form of Spring but the one he considered a monster. He didn't go into further details of what he meant and Rena figures it's something between Thomas and his father. So she instead puts her mentality on the program that will make the animatronics move and— well they should sing the song but apparently the computers in their heads do not understand that command and keep bugging the lyric and that in turn messes up the voiceboxes, making them sing nonsense.

"And it's right about now I would love you could just sing this without me messing up your robot brains…" Rena grumbles while once again has to put the song and the movement commands into Bonnie. They might've been ridiculously advanced with souls trapped in them, but without, well, Rena will say they aren't much different from an animatronic in an amusement park. Makes her wonder if those technician deals with this crap as well, sorta hope they do, it makes her feel better knowing she's not the only one suffering.

"What are you doing?"

Rena looks up from her laptop and explains the curious Hope. "I am making the animatronics ready for Halloween— remember the song Mike played for you not long ago?" Hope nods and Rena waves up to the slump over Bonnie, having a wire stuck in the back of his head which leads down to her laptop. "They are supposed to sing that song and perform as well. I do have a few problems but I'm not giving up." She smiles at the young girl. "This Halloween show will blow our costumers away."

Hope looks up to Bonnie, then at something besides the animatronic. After a moment of just staring, she turns back to Rena, musing much to the older girl's bemusement. "He said you suck out all of his talents with that wire."

Sounds like Bonnie talking, and Rena replies, aimed at the owner of the robot rabbit. "Well, it's not like you can do anything about it Timothy." She does jump in surprise when Bonnie suddenly jerks and the program codes on her laptop changes. Staring at the once again still animatronic, Rena turns back to the laptop and is not sure she should be a bit freaked out or laugh out loud by what the codes translate to if turned into words.

'You were saying? I might be—' The sentence stops there, it seems Tim lost control over his robot form at that moment. "Moron." She sighs deadpan and deletes this cheeky sentence Bonnie made into the coding. "You messed up my work."

Hope has no idea how to respond to this, she is still trying to get used to the main staff are used to deal with spirits even if none of them can see them. Looking at the grumpy spirit going by the name of Tim, he does not look happy that he couldn't keep the control of Bonnie, which confuses her greatly. "Why do you keep trying to possess these bodies?" She asks, Tim eyes her and replies simply. _'It's my body.'_

"But… it's not your real body." Hope argues but for all of these spirits who keep on trying to possess the robots do not have the same point of view on what makes a body as the others have. For them, it does not really matter they are dead. Hope does not fully understand why, only that the spirits told they have been living in those animatronic for years and thus, well for Hope it sounded like the animatronics became the spirits home but that does not make much sense for her.

And Tim is not really helping as he says annoyed. _'Of course, it is. Been mine ever since I died.'_ And he returns back to stare disapproving at Rena have his robot body wired to her laptop.

Hope watched Rena do this programming but soon left as it was boring to watch all these numbers she did not understand on the screen. She walks over to the game room, joining other kids at playing around at the slide. 

* * *

**if you want more chapter faster, then you can do me the big help by suggesting small plots you wish to happen, since I only have the main story in mind.**


	14. Chapter 14

**okay, I think I have neglected you FNAF readers for long enough. I have managed to write three chapters, so I will give you those and hopefully get more without you having to wait for months.**

 **before we begin though**

 **to A Random Guest: I am sorry you have to wait this long. not proud of it myself, but well; I'm not a robot- at least when I last checked XD**

 **to Snowwing: nice to hear from you again! and your suggestion is a good one. I will keep that in mind for future chapters.**

 **to Dinovictor: it sounds like a good idea, Halloween chapter coming right up.**

 **to Thedyingjokepastaway: yup, your comment sure felt like reading a small book, but I really enjoyed reading what you had to say.**

 **and now, enjoy this long awaited chapter.  
the "Puppet Song" belongs to ****TryHardNinja**

* * *

 _"_ _Is this the place?" Goldie asks right after he and Scott appear at what looks to be a storage area, the man beside him does not reply right away since this is the first time he tries getting teleported by a possessed animatronic.  
_ _Scott takes a deep breath as if he forgot how to breathe for a moment. "Yeah, this is the place." Goldie nods and when Scott feels study on his feet again, he follows the man into the area. He does have to stay out of sight when Scott walks over to speak with the storage manager, showing that he has the right to take the parts they need from that particular storage container. It takes a bit longer than expected, but Goldie isn't really surprised. Last time anyone from Fazbear Entertainment came it was back when the people put him and Spring for storage._

 _Scott returns, now holding several papers in his hand. "Well, there are both good and bad news." He muses.  
Goldie raises a brow. "Did they sell the parts?" Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if this company did, there are after all limits for how long they want to keep something stored if not getting paid.  
Scott shifts on his feet, clearly not comfortable with the topic. "Eh no, someone claiming to be part of the company and took everything in storage." He then hands Goldie the papers, whatever was stored in that container has a signature, a very familiar one._

 _"Vincent." Goldie growls, that man's seems to be everywhere when it comes to the company. "Now the question: where did he bring the parts?" Scott asks to no one in particular. "There was a lot, enough to fill a building, but most of what was in store was mostly covers for the animatronics, equipment to the show and… well, you and Martin…" The last Scott says in a quiet voice.  
Goldie eyes wide in shock, not at him and Spring have been in there, he already knew that. No, what Scott said has made him realizes where the parts are.  
And he does not look forward to visiting that place again. "I know where he took the parts." He tells Scott and right away adds darkly. "And it's not a place for you. Last time I was in there, Nightmare tore me apart. That building holds such strong negativity that black spirits gain strength."_

 _Scott nods he understands but does ask. "So do we have to improvise with the show now the parts are a no go?"_

 _"I only said I didn't wish you inside that building." Goldie replies, yes he does not fancy stepping inside Fazbear Fright, least for some parts they only would use at Halloween. But, well, he would like to know what Nightmare meant by them being siblings in some way. He is still unsure where his powers came from, and Nightmare made it sounds like those power came from it. Does makes sense in how hard it is to control this beast that is his powers. "I will take the parts out from the building and bring them back to the restaurant. If Nightmare is still in there, at least I have the advantages that I cannot die again."_

 _"But she can still swallow your soul, making you part of her being." Scott argues._

 _Goldie is not entirely sure what the man's meant by that, but if his last encounter holds a clue; he is pretty sure he will be fine. "My powers won't let Nightmare do it." Scott nods slowly but does still look very worried about Nightmare might swallow his soul.  
Goldie teleports them both back to the restaurant before he leaves alone, appearing at Fazbear Fright. "Can't say I am happy to see this place…" He grumbles but does walk inside. The aura of the building is still very negative and if a black spirit attacks then he won't stand much of a chance, just as a black spirit wouldn't at the restaurant. It's a balance even he must obey.  
Not wanting to stay longer than necessary, Goldie grabs a large box, throws the parts Thomas would need, plus a few cosmetics to give the show the creepy vibe the humans are looking for.  
Inside the security office, Goldie hesitates. There is something with dark intentions in here, not Nightmare though, it's not strong enough. He scans the room but cannot spot the spirit he can sense, his eyes do stop at a plush that looks like Spring— if Spring was creepy and dangerous looking. "Something tells me you are another of Vincent's toys." Goldie muses to the 'staring' creepy plush and firmly ignores it over the parts in the box besides the desk. He casts the plush one last look before he leaves, yeah sure that thing would fit the show, but it creeps him out, so that plush can stay right there and keep the dark spirit company._

 _Goldie teleports back with the parts and puts the large box onto the table inside the Parts and Service room for Thomas. "This was all we could get, I hope it's enough for your little idea."  
Thomas pulls out the many parts, all from a different animatronic by the look of the colors, but the young man didn't seem disappointed in what he got. Thomas smiles and asks for a small favor by pointing at a single can with yellow paint. Goldie titles his head, at first a bit confused what their mechanic is asking him, then he realizes Thomas only has one can. "Oh, you need more?"  
Thomas nods.  
Goldie makes a calculation on how much paint Thomas would need with the parts the young man took out from the box. When he got a result from his computer brain he grabs Scott once again as he cannot go inside a shop for said paint. _

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Halloween has begun and the whole restaurant got decorated for the holiday, made to stay a whole month.  
Mike watches the animatronic do the show, then glances over to Rena who does not look that satisfied with her work. Yeah, the animatronics are not always in complete sync with the song and sometimes bug out with the lyrics but Mike thinks she did a brilliant job, he sure heck couldn't have done it without having fried their system. He walks over to Rena and tells her. "Chin up, the show is great and people like it." Waving out to their customers enjoying this show that will repeat every third hour. That way they are sure most people see it without the customers has to deal with listening to the same song more than once while being here.  
Rena watches the older children, among them is Hope; enjoying the bit scary show. Rena is glad their customers like the show but she wishes she could've made it better. "I know but every time they mess up the lyric or bug out, it feels like a punch to the gut." She admits to Mike and sighs. "...I miss them, wish they could've done it without I had to mess up their mainframe just for a single show."  
She feels a hand on her shoulder, Rena turns and her eyes meet Mike's, he gives her a weak sad smile. "I miss them too" Rena knows he does, she has caught him crying when he thought no one was watching and like those times, Rena hugs him. However, this time a quick one and they both return back to work.  
Mike is right, people like the show and she did her best, so maybe she should just leave it at that? Rena makes a decision she should when the kid from the midsummer party at her parents runs over to her, she smiles down to the excited child. "Hey! Are you ready to carve some pumpkins?" The child beams and nods. "Yeah!" So hand-in-hand, Rena and the child heads over to the table where the pumpkins are.

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The doctor gave Mike and the others some good news. Sorens has recovered enough to leave the hospital, he still needs to take medicine though but Mike is sure Soren is more than relieved he can get out from the place.  
Nice timing as well, the Halloween show is still up and what Goldie caught, the teen really wanted to see it.  
Mike grabs the keys to Jeremy's car and tells the blond. "I'll be getting Soren now." and asks worried since Jeremy still deals with the trauma Twisted One put him through. "You sure you won't… um, try and hurt him?"

Can't blame Mike thinking that, he did after all attack the brunette back when that black spirit got him. Jeremy drinks some of his coffee before he replies to the younger man. "Can't say I am fully recovered, but I am sure I'm no danger for any of them." Nodding to Hope who for once plays like a normal child over at the ball area in the game room. "No urges to drag Hope away and serve her on a silver platter to that monster." and adds since Mrs. Grey hasn't been the only one who helped him recover from this. "And if I would rebound back to be Twisted One's servant, then Martin told me he would hug that evil out of me."

"…Can he do that?" Mike asks. Jeremy gives him a look. "Not a real hug, it's more like being tackled and held down by a giant glowing ghost hare." The blond remarks in such a deadpan manner that Mike has to choke down his laughter. Jeremy returns back to his coffee. "I will keep my distance, just in case." Mike nods to that and leaves to fetch the kid who soon will be his ward. Getting the paperwork through takes a bit longer than expected but at least they are allowed to house the kids without getting arrested for kidnapping or something else. So Jeremy's capture by the Twisted One hadn't all been for nothing.  
He arrives at the hospital, and after have gotten the go-ahead by the clerk, Mike walks into Soren's room— right the second he sees the Fredbear plush gets thrown against the nearest wall, checking the teen, he notices Soren looks more flustered than angry. Looking past that, it's good to see the teen out from the bed. Mike pretends he hasn't noticed anything weird going on."You ready to leave?"  
Soren nods, about to leave the room, then hesitates and without a word, he picks up the plush and with it in hand, he leaves the room.  
Mike watches this whole thing with a faint smile, he looks over his shoulder and sees a grinning spirit of Calem.

 _"he thought he was too old for it."_ the spirit says before he disappears again.

Mike rolls his eyes, leaves, and guides the still flustered boy down to the car. The drive to Freddy's happens in relative silence, only broken when Mike explains Soren about the hidden room he and Hope will be sleeping. "At least until I get myself an apartment." He tells the teen.  
Soren simply nods, seemly more interested in removing dust from the Fredbear plush.  
That changed when they arrived at Freddy's, Mike smiles from how Soren is more than a little dumbfounded that the parking lot has a small crowd of people waiting for them.  
The moment Mike helps the teen out from the car, Hope runs over and almost topple Soren down in a hug, the only thing stopping him from doing so is Mike standing behind him.

"You're back!" Hope cheers with tears in her eyes, so relieved Soren did not become a spirit. Soren returns the hug, although quite awkwardly, didn't matter for her. Hope is just so happy to see him again.

"Welcome to Freddy's Soren. I'm Rena." Rena introduces herself to the quite scrawny teenager boy, he eyes her unsurely, the same manner Hope did the first day she arrived. Rena is not at all annoyed he does not reply to her, certain he will open up in time as his cousin did. However, this shyness did not stop her from introducing him to the others.

With the introduction over, Mike tells the awkward standing teen. "Everyone here knows about the spirits, so with us; you can freely talk about the spirit world."

"Everyone else, well it's best you keep quiet about the subject." Scott adds and tells both the kids and Mike. "We made a welcome feast, uh, not sure if Soren is on a certain diet."

"Nothing we should worry about at least until he starts drinking." Mike grins and brings Soren inside. He and the others allow Hope to show him around, figures the two needs time to catch up with one another again.  
When they return, Mike catches Hope explaining Soren about their resident spirits. " _—_ He is sorta like you, but way more of a fighter." He has a feeling who they are talking about but right now the spirits can wait. "Come over and join us!" He calls for them and laughs at what Soren says: "Finally, real food."

At first, Soren eats the delicious pizza in silence, simply listening to the adults' chatter about stuff going on at the restaurant. Then he can't handle the suspense anymore, especially when he knows it's the sole reason these people even allowed him and Hope to live here. "Which of the spirits do you want to be trapped inside the robots?" He does winch when everyone stops talking and stares at him. Soren would like to disappear there but bites down the uncomfortable sense and asks as calm and collected as a timorous kid like him now can. "It's the reason you want us here r-right?"

"Sure, but there is more to it than that kid." Jeremy remarks from his spot, he can almost hear Twisted One command him to hurt this kid. Martin must've sensed it for he appears right beside him.

He takes his brother's hands in his, well, as much he now can. Only when sure his brother is not clouded by the darkness of that spirit, he speaks to the Medium boy ' _your safety means more than our return_.'

This confuses Soren, he thought this was the agreement. "But, you said I needed to imprison you in those bodies...!" He argues to the spirits watching the table. "That was the deal." He feels a pair of hands on his shoulder, turning around his brown meets Mike's grey-blue, the man smiles to him. "I won't deny it, we all would love to see our friends return again. But, well, we want you two to be happy as well."

"And we are some of the few people who won't be freaked out when you start talking to spirits." Scott adds.

Soren looks at everyone, both spirit and person, all of them do not want him and Hope here because of their power. No, they want them here because they are kids who need a home. That is such a surreal feeling, it surprises him as he really hadn't expected this treatment.

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"Alright, time for bed!" Mike calls for Soren and Hope inside the game room. He feels a bit bad to interrupt their small game of pretend— what he observed, they played as a wizard in search for his apprentice. It's the first time Soren has been comfortable enough to be like someone at his age.  
"But we're at the best part." Hope argues in the ball basin. "The wizard is about to rescue his future apprentice!"  
Mike does feel bad but he has delayed their bedtime too long already. "That rescue has to wait until tomorrow. Time to bed." He calls back.  
Hope complains but she and Soren do stop their game, brush their teeth and heads downstairs for bed. Mike follows them right after he has turned everything off. "Goodnight, Goldie. Night, guys." He speaks to the slump over animatronics and the golden bear sitting at one of the tables.

"Goodnight Mike" Goldie replies for all of the spirits, not looking up from the newspaper he is reading as the humans go to bed for the night.  
He does stop reading when the silence gets too much, this is one of the disadvantages in being the only aware spirit at this place. He is painfully aware of time and the loneliness at night is something he wishes he could avoid, but he can't as he does not need sleep and even if his robot body needs it to recharge, he cannot join the computer's illusion of dreaming.  
Goldie lets out a sigh, sad that he once again has to wait for the sun to raises on his own. Something he has been doing ever since Marion set them free from their robot bodies. At these lonely hours, he is jealous of the other's ignorance about time and wishes he could be in their blissful states, only for a short time aware of this gloomy existence. Being death does not bother him, not anymore at least. It's the awareness his ghost powers give him. Hoping he can get rid of this suffocating silence, Goldie takes out Marion's old radio and turns it on for some much-needed music.  
With the music engulfing the entire upper floor and Goldie too focused on the radio, he did not see a slender black figure walk inside the game room. He only takes notices something is amiss when the radio gets affected by the intruder.  
The country music gets replaced with a soft tune of a music box, Goldie stares confused at the affected radio to then his red eyes wide when a familiar voice comes from the object.

 _'Taken way too soon  
I'm not at all what used to be'_

He then notices a presence and spins around, at the door of the game stand no other than Marion.

 _'_ _Shifting in a box  
The past is nothing more than just a dream'_

Marion, eyes glowing white walks into the game room, a more than a little startled Goldie follows.

 _'Now I hear the call of evil growing once again'_

The puppet walks past the spirits of the kids, beckon them to follow and they do.

 _'I'm powerless to change your fates'_

Marion leads them to each of their animatronic form.

 _'But in the end I'll shelter you my friends'_

And do something to each of the robot's heads.

 _'_ _Tonight we roam'_

Marion teleports over to the gang, doing the very same thing.  
 _  
'And If they listen really close  
They can hear us sing our song'_

When done Marion walks over to Spring and the watching golden bear.  
 _  
'And I can't give you back the things you had'_

Martin spirit appears besides Goldie

 _'_ _But you don't have to do this on your own'_

Marion offers both one of his hands  
 _  
'Even if you're never coming home'_

Spirit and bear take it.

 _'_ _You're not alone'_

The seals inside every animatronic activate

 _You're not alone_

BonBon collapses onto the floor, in last second caught by Chiara.  
Theo snaps his eyes open, twitches as if he does not fully recall how to move.  
Freddy launches his head up in the air like a man would who has been near drowning.  
 _  
'You're not alone'  
_  
Chica flinches and eyes opening slowly, Bonnie beside her twitches as if he's waking from a nasty nightmare.  
At the cove, it looks like the two foxes are not affected but by major glitching, they both open their eyes there are for once in focus.  
Spring glitches once before he opens his eyes and turns to Goldie whose face is twisted in a sneer from the sudden pain he felt.

 _'In our own little world_  
 _Forever lost to passing time'_

Slowly, all of the animatronics turns and their glowing in the dark eyes to where Marion is.  
 _  
'No one knows what its like  
To wear a mask that you are trapped inside'_

Marion holds around his head as if he's dealing with a headache, then drops his hands and walks back to the gift corner.  
 _  
'One day the purple clouds  
That hover over us will fade'_

Freddy stops the puppet by catching his arms, the puppet looks up to the bear.

 _'Then we'll be free to cut the strings'_

Slowly Marion shakes his head.

 _'_ _To wipe the tears but now we walk in chains'_

Hesitant at first, Freddy lets go of the puppet.

 _'_ _Tonight we roam and if they listen really close'_

Marion starts to leave again

 _'_ _They can hear us sing our song'_

All of the animatronics hums to the melody

 _'_ _And I can't give you back the things you had'_

Slowly they turn away from Marion, scanning the place they do not recall from their memories.

 _'_ _But you don't have to do this on your own'_

Foxy turns to the Toys, giving them a weak smile that somehow eases their confusions.

 _'_ _Even if you're never coming home'_

Goldie puts a hand on a more than a little worried Spring, the hare meets his eyes.

 _You're not alone_

and returns the smile.

 _You're not alone_

Marion returns to the large preset prop, and back there, the lights go out in his eyes, no longer moving or aware.

Right at that moment, Mike, who has been dreaming the whole thing opens his eyes, sits up in bed and stares to the door leading upstairs. He wonders if it was just a dream or the robots really are back.  
Knowing he won't get any sleep before he solves the mystery, Mike leaves bed, quietly goes upstairs and is not sure he should be yelling in shock or cry his heart out in relief as the animatronics no longer are on their spots. Freddy turns around, the eyes glowing in the same manner as they did back in the former restaurant but this time: Mike is not afraid. "You're back." he whispers, unable to keep the smile or tears at bay. 

* * *

**question: has this chapter been worth the wait?**

 **I will try and give you a new chapter next week, but I can't promise it.**


	15. Chapter 15

**just got back from an international internship but that won't stop me!**

 **Goldie: only bad internet connection or writer block will stop you**

 ***huge grin* I do not have to worry about the internet, what I have now is really good!**

 **Goldie: so, only writer block?**

 **I wish, but my education school demands most of my time *sighs* so annoying... but it will be worth it in the end.**

 **Goldie: *chuckles***

 **enjoy the story!**

* * *

"Rena and Thomas installed an entertainment program into you. I am unsure how much it will affect you, but I will ask Rena to remove it now there's no longer a need for it." Mike explains to his friends while eating the pizza Chica made for him. He does almost choke on the pizza when Spring remarks awfully casual. "Oh, that's why I suddenly remember a bunch of stories. Found that a bit weird."  
Recovering from almost choking on a piece of pizza, Mike tells the hare. "Rena installed you and Goldie to read up for the kids. Jeremy is the one who came up with what books she should install." And asks a bit worried. "Should I ask her to remove them?"

"No need." Spring waves Mike's question off, he's not at all bothered by it.

Right, but what about the others? Mike turns to his four friends. "What about you?"

"I would appreciate it if you removed the stories stuck in my head." Foxy replies as he prefers to make them up on his own.

Mike says he will ask Rena about it, for he doubts he should try. "I'm not a computer technician; probably screw something up if I try."

"Doubt you can screw up Foxy further." Bonnie remarks grinning, that grin does disappear right away when Foxy suddenly pulls one of his ears. "Auv! Stop that mutt!" He snaps and whacks out after the now grinning fox.

"Hey, Mike, I think something is wrong with long-ear here." Foxy calls as he pretends to give Bonnie's trapped ear a scan for damage. "For, all I am seeing are lot of loose bolts inside his head!"

"Buzz off!" Bonnie sneers and pushes Foxy down from the table, he then shoots Chica, Mike and Spring a glare from laughing at the whole thing.

Theo in the other hand: "I don't get it..." He muses, thinking that Bonnie literally has loose bolts inside of him. Which would be a painful affair, but from how the others are laughing; he has a feeling it's more of a joke than a need for repairs.

"You will understand it someday." Spring tells the confused kid, still chuckling at the small mocking scene between Foxy and Bonnie.

Mike laughs lightly, however broken by a yawn.  
"Someone seems a bit tired." Chica remarks and checks the clock with the suggestion. "You should get some rest."  
But Mike doubts he can, he is still so happy that his friends are back. "I can handle a single day without sleep." He tells her.  
Chica shrugs and lets him be, but does say. "Don't come whining if you fall asleep on the job."

Bonnie smirks of the mental image he gets of Mike sleeping while standing. If that happens he will seriously take a picture.

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Mike did go to bed an hour later, and with Mike back in bed. Goldie figures he better put the others up to date of what has been happening. "Mike didn't mention it, but we have been gone for a year." The others either gasp or their eyes wide in response to this news.

"it's really been that long?" Spring asks quietly and his worries increase of who they had left behind without a warning. "How are the others? My brother, my son, Scott? Are they doing alright?" He has this weird looming sense that his brother is not doing well. Goldie turns to him, the gleam in those red eyes does not ease his worries.  
"Your boy and Scott are doing fine." His friend replies but it does help on this bad feeling Spring has.  
"What about my brother?" Spring presses, the golden bear hesitates which did not really help. "Did something happen to him?"  
The others' eyes Goldie, now worried too.

Goldie had hoped he could've waited on this but, well, maybe it's best they know what has been going on lately. "Jeremy was attacked by a black spirit; a ghost corrupted by negative emotions. He is alive but this black spirit has left its mark on him. A woman- Mrs. Grey is currently having therapy sessions with him that should help him recover."

Chica straightens up slightly by hearing that name, she does recall her last name as a human is the same and remembers Mike told her grandmother is a psychotherapist, she does wonder if she can meet her again.

Freddy too recalls something, but not from when he last was possessing this body. "A black spirit attacked Jeremy…?" He muses in ponder but no matter how much he tries he cannot grasp these memories peaking up from the surface of his mainframe. Eyeing his brother. "I- I don't know why, but what you said sounds awfully familiar. Like... I have been in a fistfight with this person- or thing."

"I'm surprised you even can recall this much." Goldie remarks surprised that Freddy has memories of the encounter with the Twisted One. He ended up telling them all about Soren and Hope and their former guardian got corrupted by the black spirit the children went to call the Twisted One. "Kate's husband is a lawyer and the same man who helped Scott gaining to rights to us at the former restaurant." He explains them and tells that Askr needed papers from the children's father/uncle in order to help them gain the guardianships right over them. Jeremy volunteered to go and get William Afton's signature. "We knew there was a danger doing so, that's why I asked you to follow Jeremy. And in a lucky stroke out of a ton of bad luck, you warned Mike of what had happened even after you got quite the beating from the Twisted One. Because of this, Mike got to Jeremy in time and Spring saved his brother from the Twisted One's control."

Spring's ears raise in recognition of what Goldie has told them. "Now that you mention it, I do recall protecting someone important against something evil and twisted." And shivers just thinking about it. "I do not want to meet that monster again…"

Neither will he but from what has Goldie told them. "I think we will see to Twisted One more in the future…" Everyone eyes Foxy when the fox points out somberly. "People with such obsessions won't stop until they get what they want." Adding with a shrug. "And I have no idea how I know this."

BonBon whimpers at the mere thought that a monster will attack their home, Chiara folds her wings over his shoulders as comfort and asks the older animatronics. "Isn't there something we can do?"

Fortunately, there is good news in all of this mess. "There is; as a black spirit, Twisted One gains strength on negative emotions such as anger and fear, while positive emotions such as happiness and the bond family share weaken it." Goldie waves his arms out to their home in the form of the restaurant. "As long this place is filled with joy; no black spirit will approach the place."

"That black rabbit spirit did." Chica points out and asks Goldie. "Won't the Twisted One be able as well?"

"True, but back when that spirit came here, the restaurant was filled with dread from what happened to the others— let me explain this first." Goldie interrupts himself when Freddy opens his mouth. Freddy closes it and Goldie turns back to explain what he has observed with the black spirits and his own powers. "When things return to normal, us entertaining people and have fun doing it. Then that rabbit black spirit would've been greatly weakened and thus completely harmless. And if Twisted One attacks on a more bad day then both I and Spring can fight it."

"Huh?" Spring blinks at what Goldie said. "Last I recall, I do not have powers like you." Goldie smirks to him and explains, much to the hare's confusion. "Your powers only show when those you care about are in danger." Okay? Spring frowns by this but for now will leave it at that, as there is no need to know more right this moment.

With this settled, Goldie now can answer whatever question Freddy has. "What is it that bothers you?"

"Before… we died again, I remember Vincent revealed... he was our killer." Freddy says.

"WHAT?!" Bonnie exclaims in shock, the Toys and the others minus Spring are quite startled hearing this. BonBon is more scared though since he always got bad vibes from that man. "That sonofabitch!" Bonnie shouts and for once Freddy did not call out he swore. And if Vincent is the killer then; Bonnie has a bone to pick with him. "Where is he now?" He demands angrily, not sure what he would do, only that it will hurt a hell of a lot on the man who took their lives all those years ago.

"Vincent is dead." Goldie replies Bonnie calmly, well, as calmly he can about that whole topic about their murder. "Marion killed him and for some reason, that caused the release of our souls." Can't say he feels sorry from how Vincent died, but he does towards Marion as he did exactly what he was trying to fight against. He fully thought Marion would be gone for good, but it's clear the puppet is still around, watching over them as he did fulfill their wishes in returning them back to their animatronic forms. Why the puppet didn't do it sooner is a mystery. "I admit it came as a big surprise when Marion showed up tonight." Goldie tells the others since the puppet made it very clear the last time that he did not want to be in the realm of the living.  
"I have a feeling he still has some unfinished business." Spring muses and that Goldie can fully agree on, too bad they can't help Marion with his problems but it's hard to help someone who does not want their help.

Freddy checks the clock and although he still has a lot of questions, they do have responsibilities and in order to perform their best, they need to charge for the rest of the night. "It's getting late, we better rest up so we are ready for the show tomorrow." He suggests. The others nod and after have cleaned up from the night snack, the animatronics heads to each of their stages.

Joining Spring at the book corner, Goldie is relieved he can feel his body's drowsiness from low battery and for once sleep the lonely hours away.

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Early the next day, a very excited Mike calls Rena and tells her to come to Freddy earlier than she usually would, adds: "Oh and bring Thomas with you."  
Rena is very confused to this request. "Um okay? Something wrong with the animatronics?" She asks, not aware of the miracle that happened last night and Mike really want her to find that out herself. Keeping his mouth shut is quite hard though. "Just come as soon as possible, it will be worth it." He tells her and decides to end the call before he starts opening his mouth about what has happened.

Rena stares at her phone, annoyed and confused to Mike's weird behavior. "This better be worth it." She grumbles and starts to pack her stuff. Jess leaves the bathroom, hair still damp from the bath and he frowns when he notices she is leaving, usually it's him leaving the apartment first. "You're leaving early." He remarks and grabs a clean blouse from the cupboard. "Something wrong with the robots at Freddy's?"  
Rena shrugs. "Don't know, Mike wouldn't tell. Only it sounded really important that I and Thomas got there early." She kisses him goodbye and leaves.  
Like the other times, Rena drives over to the Fitzgerald family home and has to explain to Thomas's mother that his side job acquires him so he needs to skip today's lessons at his school.  
"Must be very important." Annabelle muses, Rena sure hopes so too, Jeremy told her and Mike that Thomas only should be called from his school if something broke and they needed that machine really badly. "Mike wouldn't have called if it wasn't." She tells the mother and Mike better have a good excuse for this, otherwise she will be more than miffed at this stunt he pulled off.  
Annabelle nods and calls Thomas school, fortunately, they let him get the day off to attend his apprenticeship. The moment Thomas returns, Rena signs him to jump into the car and the two head to Freddy's.  
The mute young man eyes her confused but all she can tell him that Mike made it sound very important. "He refused to tell me why, though, but he sounded like he won a million." Thomas raises a brow at this, but Rena did take notice of the anticipation expression he got and even she admits she feels a certain excitement as well. Winning a million wouldn't cause Mike this form of excitement, only one thing would and that is something they all have been hoping for.  
They arrive at Freddy's, Thomas apparently can't endure the suspense for barely has she stopped the car before the old teen leaps out and runs to the restaurant. Rena follows soon after but does at least try and do it in a calm and collected manner.  
This all got thrown out from the window the second she sees the animatronics moving around and has a gleam of life in their eyes never seen when they weren't possessed. She squeals and before her brother in form of Freddy can prepare himself, she tackles him into a hug and only his bigger and heavy size kept him from toppling over. "You're back! Oh, I am so happy- I've missed you sooo much!" Rena cries into his furry chest.

"I missed you too..." Freddy replies weakly, his face twisted in pain from practically getting attacked by his overjoyed sister, he does wonder how Rena knows the truth but figures Mike told her in this one-year timespan. Casting a glance at the brunette he, did indeed guess correct from the shrug along with a smile Mike gives him.  
Rena notices his discomfort and steps back. "I'm sorry!" She apologizes with hands up to her mouth and asks worriedly. "Something wrong with your systems?"  
Caressing his chest pounding in pain from the tackle, Freddy explains her and the two other humans. "No no, systems fine. It's just, well getting your soul stuffed into a robot body hurts and takes some getting used to."

"Hope did mention this." Mike realizes and this does make him ponder if they made the right choice in wishing for the souls to return to animatronics'. "How bad is it?"

"Don't worry Mike, we are used to this." Foxy replies, carefully folds his arm over Vixy's shoulder as a one-armed hug. "We went through this back when Marion put us into our robot bodies the first time and that hurt a lot more back then."

Spring nods in agreement, smiling down to his son on his lap. "These bodies are way more comfortable than our past forms." Thomas smiles falter for a moment, and Spring realizes he unintentionally reminded his boy about his broken form- the form that caused Thomas's muteness. Spring breaks the eye contact, regret welling up in him, does snap out from it when Thomas puts a hand on his face. His son's eyes show no sign he wants any form of revenge, only the genuine joy he is here at his side again. Spring smiles, the regret might never fade but the genuine joy that Thomas still loves him overshadow these negative emotions and he hugs his son, who is as well so happy to be reunited with his father again.

Mike watches the heartfelt scene between father and son, hard not to smile at it. Does fade as he turns to his friends, asking them. "Should we be more careful with you being extra sensitive to pain?"

"Nah," Bonnie replies and starts to strum on his guitar, it's a bit hard with his soul partly struggling against the seal holding him in this body and he is not fully in sync with his sensory system anymore. "Takes more than this before I start crying." He tells the humans.

Freddy rolls his eyes at Bonnie's words, although he does sorta agree. "Don't worry about us, we will tell you if it gets too much. But-" He eyes the Toys, unlike them, the kids' threshold for pain is not as high as theirs. "I suggest you will be more mindful around the Toys. They are after all still kids."

"We can handle it." Vixy grumbles, she has endured similar pain back in their former home. Chiara does have other ideas though. "Not all of us are as thickskinned as you." Vixey shoots the other girl a small glare. "Oh, excuse me, princess." Which Chiara returns and angrily nods down to BonBon who is not handling it so well. The youngest of the animatronics has tears in his green eyes and keep stroking his hands over his chest. Vixey's ears drop in regret but are too proud to apologize that she hasn't been considering BonBon's feelings.

Theo does not speak, unbeknown to anyone, his mind is wandering to the man he thought cared about him but turned out to be the person who ended his life as a human and used him as an animatronic. That puts his thoughts on a dark path in wondering; does anyone truly cares about him…?

"We will be extra mindful around the Toys." Mike promises to Freddy, not aware of the conflicts going on with the kids of the robots. He is just too happy to notice anything other than the joy that things are living up again for the restaurant.

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About a half hour before opening, Scott and Jeremy arrive and like the others, the great surprise and sheer joy to see the animatronics back is nothing but heartfelt. The gang all gather around Scott, one although they know is not; still sees as their father. While Jeremy's full attention is on his brother, he wraps his arms around the hare's head, hiding his tears in between the hare's ears. Spring is more open in showing his tears from the genuine emotions to be once again reunited with his brother who has endured so much pain these past weeks.

Soren and Hope join them soon after, Hope is more than caught off guard seeing the spirits been sealed into the animatronics and she casts a question glance to Soren, but gets no answer from him other than he too looks quite confused but also worried. She is too, for does this mean they no longer can stay? She asks the managers about it, however, it is the brown bear animatronic that replies her.

"This place is as much your home as it is ours." Freddy tells the two children, they might not have been those who brought them back but Goldie did mention to him that he suspected that Marion only brought them back because of these two fellow Mediums. Soren and Hope need their protection and Freddy will not tolerate them being thrown out to the monster of Twisted One when they can offer them a place to call home. "You are welcome to stay here so long as you like."  
The two Mediums lets out a breath of relief neither knew they held and more at ease, they head to the kitchen for some breakfast.  
Freddy calls for the others attention, reminding them that they have a duty as the restaurants animatronics. "I hate to cut the reunion short but we should get to our stages before the employees arrive."

Goldie laughs. "Good idea, they didn't take my return very well. So I figure if we do not behave just bit like robots, we will deal with a mass quitting." And along with the chuckling Spring, heads back to the Game Room.  
The Toys is about to follow but Spring stops them and tells them. "It's alright if you want to skip the show for a time. I'm sure the show can handle it without you for a week or so."  
Theo, Chiara and BonBon look quite relieved by this while Vixey still has this tough girl attitude going. "I have dealt with worse, few aches won't bring me down." and she heads over to Foxy's cove. Spring notes himself to remind Foxy to keep an eye on her in case Vixey is overexerting herself.  
Turning to the others who have fortunately learned it's alright to step back and recover. "I'll tell the others you will be off the show for a time." They nod and walk downstairs. Spring gets hold on Scott and tells him that Chiara, BonBon and Theo do not feel up to doing the show.

"Better tell Rena this, she programmed you all to do a Halloween show." Scott replies and is not sure how much that program will affect them.  
Spring blinks at this, seems like he hasn't noticed that program before now. "Huh? Oh, better tell her then." The hare agrees and heads out to find her. 

* * *

**Mostly just catching up a conversation between the animatronics and also bit more heartwarming reunion between them and their families. I remember some of you really wanted Rena to know who Freddy really is. In Facing the Past, she learned the truth but back then Mike thought Freddy and the others were gone for good.**  
 **So it's good to know he was wrong and the two Legrand siblings can get reunited once again. Same with Jeremy and his brother Martin, although I think Jeremy is really hating on how much he is tearing up lately XD**

 **suggestion to future chapters will be really nice, and it will give you a chance to get scenes you want to see in this story.**  
 **but until then: I will see you the next time**


	16. Chapter 16

**Spring: *stares awkwardly at me* um... you alright?**

 ***groans* too much homework... and I do not feel like doing it...**

 **Spring: oh, explains why you are here instead.**

 ***groans again* can you please start this? I need to do my homework.**

 **Spring: eh sure *walks off* let me find Rena and we can get this started.**

* * *

After Spring has told her about the situation with the Toys, Rena understands why the kids of the animatronics need time to recover and although it will remove a somewhat important part of the Halloween show, she is more than happy to do it in trade for the spirits residing inside each robot to recover faster. "I will remove it right away." She tells Spring and calls for Mike, thinking it's best to have him near since he has a weird calming effect on them. "I need your help with Theo, Chiara and BonBon." She explains when Mike walks over to her.

Mike blinks a bit confused but does nod and leaves Soren and Hope to Chica's care. He follows her downstairs, down there, Rena explains the Toys about the program and how she needs to access their mainframe in order to remove it. "Otherwise you might suddenly start singing and moving as I programmed your bodies."

The Toys eye one another, creeped a bit out by this fact that they suddenly don't have control over their bodies again. They all remember how uncomfortable that was back at their former home but this time they have the chance to get rid of it and are more than happy to let Rena tinker with their mainframe, a place they on an instinctual level wants to protect.

Only Goldie is aware of why they have this great urge to keep that place safe. The mainframe is not only the core to their very mind but also where the seal that keeps their spirits attached resides. Even if people cannot destroy it, the animatronics still feels a deep need to protect what is practically the brain and source that keeps them alive.

Rena is somewhat aware of this, so before she starts messing around their mainframe, she asks Mike to turn them off. It goes well enough with Chiara and BonBon, both trusts and looks up to Mike, but when going over to delete the show from Theo, the young bear does not stay calm as the two others. Mike has to spend almost ten minutes just to calm Theo enough in order to be able to turn him off. Rena hurries to connect her laptop with Theo's mainframe. She right away takes notice that the data she is getting from his mind is not good. She waves Mike over and shows him the images that keep glitching over the screen of a laptop from what is down Theo's very core of his computer mind. "Something is really bothering him." Rena tells Mike in a low voice so the two other kids won't hear and she eyes the very disturbing flashes of what looks like blood, some creepy guy and dead people. "I think... I think he's having PTSD." Which does confuse her somewhat. She knows spirits are controlling their very thoughts but it's still weird that a spirit can make a computer display trauma like a human brain would.

"Yeah, and I think I know why..." Mike muses of what these images are showing him. Theo is the only one of the Toys who hasn't imprinted on him and from the flashes of a creepy person: the mistreatment Vincent did to Theo has left this child with a permanent scar. One Mike does not think he can ever heal… Theodore will never imprint on a human ever again…

Rena eyes him questioned but he does not think he should explain her about this when they share the room with BonBon who– like Spring and Bonnie– has a sharp hearing and does not have the mentality to handle what Theo is dealing with. "I tell you later."

Rena nods and after have put the nightmare images away, she removes the Halloween song and program. When sure she got it all, she unplugs and Mike turns Theo back up. He wants to comfort the young bear but from what the images had shown, Theo does not know who he can trust anymore and leaves from Mike's move to hug him. Watching the young bear, Mike feels deeply sorry and dreads that Theo will have trouble to see people other than something that wants to use him as Vincent did. Fortunately, there is someone that Theo knows won't hurt him. "Molly should be around here somewhere." He tells Theo and as hoped, that brightens the kid's day and Theo starts searching for the cat he considers his pet. He found Molly under the bed and from how the cat reacts on Theo, allowing him to pull her out, something Molly wouldn't have allowed Mike without a lot of complaining.

"Wow, you have gotten really big!" Theo laughs with the loudly purring cat in his arms, he hugs Molly before letting her up on his shoulders where the cat cuddle up against his face.

Mike has a feeling that cat considers Theo her owner as well, Molly just has another behavior around the young bear, something she only shows around Theo. It's nice to see, of course, Theo needs such a companion after what he has been through. Turning to Rena who also smiles at the sweet scene between bear and cat. "We better get upstairs." Rena nods and they leave Theo to attend his cat and brother and sister building a cave near the shelf.

When out from their hearing range, Mike tells Rena what he is certain those images they saw from Theo meant and his conclusion: "I don't think he will let a person that near him again after what Vincent did to him."

Rena is very troubled by this, for like him, she knows that a child needs a parental figure. "We can't leave him on his own like this." And Mike wholeheartedly agrees, but: "You saw when I tried: he didn't want me near. I hate to say this, but all our work and his improvement seem to have been ruined thanks to Vincent… Theo has lost faith in people from what Vincent did to him." Mike glances with sad eyes back to the door "…He is afraid to get hurt again."

"I'm sure you talk from personal experience there…" Rena remarks softly.

Mike nods slowly, yes, he too lost faith in people when his own parents didn't give him the comfort he desperately needed and that made him afraid to reach out. Theo is at that state, just… worse as he got hurt more than just one way by someone he trusted. Theo had trouble with it before but now, well he really will have problems in knowing the difference from genuine care from one wishing to control him. And sadly, Mike doubts Theo will allow him or any human near enough to help him. "I want to be there for the kid, but…" Might sighs. "I don't think he wants my help..." He admits to Rena and eyes the older animatronics doing a friendly spat with one another. "I think…our friends have to help him now."

As much as Rena hates to say it… she guesses Mike has a point they have to leave it to the others… "Doesn't feel right though… it feels like we are abandoning him..." Mike quietly nods in agreement and looks really bad about it as well. But he has a point; for how can they help someone who does not want it?

The start of the show snaps Rena out from her gloomy thoughts and she watches the other animatronics doing the show. She has to bite her lip and remind herself that the robots now have thoughts and are forced to do the programming, still hard though from how much they are screwing up the movements.

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The moment the restaurant is not filled with too many guests, Freddy waves over his sister, he wants to leave but the programming forces him to stay on the stage. Much to his and the annoyance of the others and he can recall from faint memories that unless they get that fixed; this annoyance can turn into anger. Something no one should deal with if they can avoid it. With his sister close, Freddy tells her. "After the show, you need to remove this programming." Rena nods and asks. "Are you affected by it?"

"Yes, we can't leave the stage or decide the movements during the show." Freddy explains her, stay on the stage he can deal but been forced to do movements so different from how he would've done it, that is straight out frustrating.

ohh, that explains the weird movements they have been doing all day. "That explains why you have been doing some weird quirky moves." Rena remarks and is a bit embarrassed to say but, "I guess I didn't do what you would've done the show, huh?"

Her brother smirks. "Considering you had to do a show with robots that couldn't walk around, then I say you did a good job." Right, and now there's no longer need for the programming. "I will remove it the moment we closes the doors for tonight. You have to deal until them."

"of course. I can deal with this, but-" Freddy turns to Bonnie, smirking on how the rabbit tries to keep up a happy smile but it's clear he is struggling from how annoyed he is by the programming. "You might have to endure Bonnie's ranting." Freddy eyes his sister, explaining. "He's never liked being programmed to do stuff."

"I can understand why." Rena voices, she looks as if she wants to say more but the programming kicks in and forces Freddy and the others to do the show once again. Yeah, although he can deal, Freddy does looks forward to getting rid of his robot body doing something where he's not in control.

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After the staff has left, Rena goes straight to work by removing the programming from the older animatronics, much to Bonnie's relief. "Finally I can move again!" He cries out exaggerated with hands up in the air.

Freddy sends him a deadpan look. "Hard to believe you once dealt with this every day in the past." And rolls his eyes as the rabbit makes a face at him "And you're supposed to be the oldest…" Hard to believe really.

Anyway, now that they no longer have that program, they need to practice their own take of the song still stuck in their heads. "We should spend the night on both coming up with a new take of the show and practice it before the doors open tomorrow." Comes in handy having a robot brain, does makes the rehearsal time very short thanks to be able to store the whole thing.

"Should be easy enough." Chica says and turns away from Hope who is making a drawing of her, very sweet of the girl really. Waving her wing towards Freddy. "Unless you have some idea, Freddy."

The bear smirks, yup he has some new ideas to the show.

"Here we go again." Foxy grins up to Bonnie who also has a grin of zeal to what Freddy has in mind for the show.

Before he will tell the others though, Freddy chases the humans out. "I want this to be a surprise." and does not care if three of them lives here, the only two allowed to stay are Scott— who Freddy has plans with. So before their adoptive father leaves, Freddy grabs him by the neck of the jacket. "Except you, father. Going to need you in the show."

Scott laughs weakly as if Freddy has just signed his death warrant. And before Jeremy leaves, Freddy stops Thomas, telling the young man. "And I would need your mechanic hands as well."

Thomas blinks but does, fortunately, agrees by giving him a thumbs up. Jeremy does look miffed but he is smart enough to know that Freddy's decision is not up for debate.

Mike is a bit annoyed to be thrown out like this but the anticipation for a surprise eases his annoyance. "This better be a good one." He tells his friends and leaves along with the others.

Freddy is very sure it will, now they are able to move around, they have someone who can add extra to the show and they now are able to control the lights. With the rest out, Freddy turns to the animatronics and two remaining humans. "Alright, here is what I have in mind." 

* * *

**okay, before I leave you for the week. I will once again ask you guys for side plots of what you want to see in this story. I only have the main plot in mind but does not feel like it's time for that at the moment. so if you want some slice of life or character development, now is the time.**

 **until next time**


	17. Chapter 17

**sorry for the wait, it has been busy with the exams coming up and it does not help that I dealt with sleep deprivation. so it has only been now I got time (and mental surplus) to make this chapter ready to be read.**

 **Freddy: I know that feeling, but something tells me I can handle stress way better than you.**

 ***nods* that you definitely can, my robot bear friend. Now can you do the honor and read the reviews?**

 **Freddy: alright. *picks up the papers* now to Guest: as you can hear from our Author, things have been busy for her to even consider making a new chapter.**

 **Darn right.**

 **Freddy: and to Tracker78: hm, that sounds like a good idea, I do owe her some of my time after having been gone for a whole year. Don't worry about Spring and his son, from what I can tell, they have such moments all the time. *puts the papers down* Now I think it's time I get back to work.**

 **right, so everyone, the upcoming song "Halloween at Freddy's" is made by TryHardNinja  
enjoy the story! **

* * *

Since Mike, Soren and Hope pretty much weren't allowed inside the restaurant due to the animatronics during a rehearsal of the Halloween show, he and the two kids spent the night at Mrs. Grey's house since Mike does not think spending a night at a motel will ease the two kids constant paranoia and Jeremy does still not trust himself from what Twisted One did to him.  
That night at Jenna's grandmother was a bit… weird for Mike, but in a good way.  
Mrs. Grey welcomed them inside with open arms and after have readied the guest room and the couch for Mike, Mrs. Grey began spoiling the two kids as if they were her grandchildren. Hope took all of this in strides and really enjoyed the grandmotherly attention, while Soren.  
Poor kid had no idea how to react on this; as if he has never tried to have a grandmother to spoil him. Mike didn't say anything but he must admit that he felt a little sorry for how awkward Soren constantly was around Mrs. Grey and he must give the elderly woman props for brushing Soren at times rude behavior off, it's clear she too can see that Soren simply has little practice in being around other people and his past experiences have made him apprehension towards pretty much anything new.  
Near ten, Mike ushes both kids to bed and quietly leaves the room, joining Jenna's grandmother in the living room. He thanks her, both for the cup of tea and the hospitality shown to both him and the two children. "They clearly needed this after everything they have been through." He briefly explains her.

Mrs. Grey nods in agreement. "Oh yes, no kids should go through such trauma. I fear Soren might be forever scarred by what his own mother did to him. Trust won't come easy from that one." She turns her gaze to her own cup. "His mother can't have been a good person to begin with: Soren lacks social awareness which a child at his age should understand, but the silver lining is that Soren is a good boy and in time will get out from that shell and learn how to be around people."

"Yeah." Mike muses, he has seen that as well. Soren has a few times acted like a child his age when playing with Hope. "I just hope I can help the two get back to their family again."

Mrs. Grey gives Mike a knowing smile. "You will do more than that, Mike." He blinks, not entirely sure of what she means, but Mrs. Grey won't tell Mike that he has a habit of staying near those who need help, even if he can get hurt.

None of them noticed Soren listening at their conversation behind the door, stunned that these people genuinely want the best for him. He honestly didn't think that was possible, less so when all of his memories about family ends with him getting hurt. He is scared, more so when a part of him wants to open up to these people. But if he does… he just ends up hurt again…

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The next day.

Mike thanks Mrs. Grey for the hospitality once again, the two kids did the same and for once Soren wasn't sarcastic about it, instead he thanked Mrs. Grey with an, although awkward but genuine "thank you for having us, Mrs. we really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure, you three are always welcome at my house." Mrs. Grey replies mostly Soren, very proud to see a glimpse of the good boy she knows he is, then she adds only for Mike's ears. "Can you give Jenna a heads-up she soon will get a visit from her grandmother?"

Mike nods that he will give Chica the message, not surprised that Mrs. Grey would like to see her granddaughter. The three waves goodbye and leave to reach the bus.  
The bus ride was rather uneventful two hours, only that the kids weren't as afraid of being away from their "safe zone" as they were yesterday.  
They arrive at Freddy's and the two kids goof a bit around on the parking lot before going inside. Mike does lack a bit behind as he notices an old animatronic arm— by the color it belonged to Foxy— hanging out from the large trash container. Confused about this as the animatronics no longer have that kind of limbs after their upgrade, Mike walks over to the container and looks inside. He finds several parts of the animatronics old shapes, even a Chica mask which is creepily is staring at him between the trash of old salad.  
Seeing these old parts does raise a lot of questions; like how they got them and why in the world would these parts be here? The animatronics cannot use them anymore.  
Maybe he will get some answers inside. So Mike heads inside and indeed gets his answer when he finds a box with the Toys old form heads near the stage, it's clearly meant to be a prop.  
Bonnie is hanging up what looks to be Vixey by the white cover plus the fox head, good thing this isn't Vixey, just a prop for he wouldn't wish her being stuck in that form which is a mangled mess of metal parts.  
Hold up, could that be…? Mike quietly tracks down Jeremy. He finds the man at one of the tables, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. "Hey, that mess Bonnie is hanging up, the one that looks kinda like Vixey."  
"Yup, that was what bit me." Jeremy answers without missing a beat. Mike has to bite his lip so he wouldn't accidentally laugh on how comically chill the blond is about the situation. And looking at the prop, Mike admits: "Okay, I can see why you and the others called her Mangle."

"Yeah, kid wasn't happy to see her old form either." Jeremy replies and casts a glance to the storage room where Vixey and the other child animatronics are hiding. "But I did hear her mention to Foxy; she is happy she is no longer trapped in that body." and looking at the prop of Mangle. "But if that thing starts to move on its own, I don't care if it's for the show. I will find the nearest wood chipper and throw it down there."  
Mike laughs weakly at his remark, well he would've understood why if he had been the one who had to constantly check the ceiling for that monstrosity. His fellow co-worker then notices 'the star' of the show.  
Thomas is currently finishing the last touches. "Yup, we now officially have a Springtrap." Jeremy remarks dryly and is surprised Martin is taking it rather well that there is a literal reminder of his past inside the building. Granted the Springtrap Thomas built does not look quite like how Martin looked like when he was in a rotting bunny suit but still enough to know what it is supposed to be.  
Taking a sip of his coffee. "It's a prop like the rest and good thing too, no way in hell Martin's mind should get near that body."

Mike can fully understand why. He can see why Spring at times gets this heartbroken look in his eyes. He had to be neglected for years for his body to rot like that, plus what Freddy once told him, Spring lost his sanity for a time when he realized the truth about himself, and if he was trapped in such a suit while it happened… yeah, Mike can see why Spring does not want to talk about it. "Maybe I shouldn't have included that into the song…" He muses as he was the one who created their Halloween song.  
Jeremy merely shrugs. "It was your way of putting this shit behind and besides-" the blond glances to the prop. "Springtrap does fit to the show."

"Glad to know I no longer will be called that horrific name." Spring remarks as he walks up to the two humans, his brother does not look at him, not wanting to show his regret that he called him that at some point. Spring has long forgiven him, more so that Jeremy didn't know Spring and Martin have become the same being. "Don't look so down, Jear-bear." As hoped it got a reaction out from his brother and Jeremy sends him a death glare for the name. He simply laughs the glare off and turns to Mike, asking the brunette. "So, ready to see what we have made out of the show?"

Mike nods with a big grin, knowing his friends, this show will be awesome and that makes him very excited to see the updated show. "You bet!" but has to asks, as all of this does look to have taken more than a few hours to make. "You didn't keep Thomas and Scott up all night did you?"

Spring chuckles sheepishly. "Well, Scott went to bed after he helped Goldie out in getting the parts and some paint. Thomas on the other hand…" He glances over to his boy who looks ready to drop from sleep deprivation. "He has been up all night."

"Didn't you tell him to go to bed?" Jeremy asks bewildered Thomas father have let the kid do an all-nighter.

Spring scratches the back of his head, still with that sheepish smile all over his face. "We uh... all sorta forgot the time and before we knew: it was morning."

Jeremy rolls his eyes of what that meant. "So none of you idiots have gotten recharged." and has to resist the urge to hit his head against the table from Martin's cheerful reply: "Nope!"  
Great… that means he will be dealing with drowsy and probably short tempered animatronics.  
His brother laughs before he leaves to put his more sleep than awake son to bed. Freddy and Bonnie carry the Springtrap prop over to a corner that is dark and creepy, all decorated by Chica.

With the props set, Freddy calls for everyone. "Alright, now it's time to give the first wave of costumes a welcome they soon won't forget— oh, are the warnings on both our website and a sign outside been put up?" He asks no one in particular, Bonnie is the one who answers. "Yup, so only stupid or insensitive parents would bring too young or easily scared kids inside for the show." And the rabbit adds to Chica with a devilishly grin. "I wonder how many complains we will get from those?" Said chicken rolls her eyes at her boyfriend.  
Freddy frowns at what Bonnie has said and sure hope parents are smart enough to see the signs that this show is not for small kids. "They shouldn't since we made it clear this show is not for young children."

"Won't stop some people." Jeremy muses under his breath.

"Let's get to our posts, our employees will be arriving soon and so are our first costumers." Freddy speaks. The other animatronics nod and leave to be at their spots to the updated show.  
With them on their spots, Mike and Jeremy head to the manager office to do a quick checkup on how business is going and also make sure the warning about this show not being appropriate for young or easily scared people are easily spotted on their webpage. Scott cannot follow since he is busy making sure his part of the show is properly practiced.

The employees arrive not long after, the cooks only cast the new props a quick glance before disappearing into the kitchen to ready today's food.  
The waiters quickly dress into the restaurant uniform and since they cannot do their job before any costumer arrive, they spend the waiting time checking out the new props and ask one of the managers aka Scott on where they got these new props in the matter of a single night. Scott simply told them that the company had some old props in storage and that's what they are using for the show.  
"We thought we might as well put those old parts to good use for the Halloween show instead throwing them out as we no longer can use them for the animatronics." He explains.  
One of the waiters gives the box filled with the Toys old form heads a look, musing. "I almost forgot how they looked like." Before he leaves to check on the Mangle prop along with one of his co-workers.  
Scott does get a hold on their head waiter and asks her. "Could you lock the doors?"

Anna gives him a confused look but does as she is asked. She locks the door and waits for him to permit her to unlock the doors for the slowly growing crowd of confused costumers.  
About ten minutes after they should've opened, Scott gives Anna the go-ahead to open the doors.  
Right as she does, the light turns off and eerie melody starts to play. The costumes carefully walk inside the dark room, having only pumpkin heads to light their way. A few of the braver children leave their parents to reach the game room, forgets all about that when they spot glowing eyes in the dark.

 _"It's Halloween at Freddy's_  
 _All the guests have arrived"_

Those children jump back and Freddy appears from the darkness, singing.

 _"Everyone's dying to meet you so_  
 _Won't you spend the night?"_

Goldie appears suddenly right beside them.

 _"Join us!"_

All of the children run back to their parents.  
Freddy approaches the watching crowd.

 _"Welcome our new friend_  
 _Come on let's begin_  
 _There's no time to waste"_

He puts his hands onto a man's shoulder who is watching somewhat wary while his children more or less hide behind him.

 _"It is me, Freddy._  
 _I hope you're ready_  
 _Let's cut to the chase"_

Freddy lets go of the man and turn the crowd's attention to the quickly made security office near the kitchen.

 _"Sounds are coming from,_  
 _From the telephone_  
 _On this holiday"_

And right on queue, Scott calls behind the wall so it sounds like he's speaking through the phone.

 _"Hello Hello? It's me the Phone Guy!_  
 _Don't trust a word they say!"_

Freddy pretends to brush those words off by leading their guests to the tables.

 _"It's Halloween at Freddy's_  
 _All the guests have arrived"_

Slowly the costumes take a seat.

 _"Everyone's dying to meet you so_  
 _Please try not to cry!"_

Freddy adds the last part down to a young boy who stares scared up to him.

 _"Join us!"_

Goldie appears in a dark corner, so he's hard to see other than his glowing eyes.

 _"First comes Mangle"_

Goldie points at the ceiling where the prop of Mangle hangs.

 _"He'll make you dangle_  
 _Best to move along!"_

People's attention is then turned to the door of the game room, where Spring stands beside a large present where the immobile Marion sits.

 _"Then the Puppet_  
 _He's a quiet kid"_

Spring begins to tune a music box.

 _"But he'll play a song"_

Bonnie makes the stage lights hit where they have the Springtrap prop.

 _"Whatever you do_  
 _Please remember to_  
 _Stay clear of Springtrap."_

Many of the adults stare disturbed at the robot zombie-like form, several of them still remember the story about the killings that happened in one of the old buildings.

 _"Heed my warnings_  
 _If he says "Follow me"_  
You'll never come back!"

Fortunately, the children didn't know, only that none of them wants to go near Springtrap.  
Bonnie then steps into the faint light.

 _"Bonnie might look cute_  
 _But he'll break you in two"_

He smirks devilishly down to the crowd.

 _"Like a carrot stick!"_

Chica then makes the lights near the pirate cove turn on and Foxy peeks slightly his head out.

 _"Look there's Pirate's Cove_  
 _That means Foxy's close_  
 _He'll hook you with his tricks"_

Bonnie leaves the lights at Springtrap, allowing Chica step in.

 _"Stick with Chica instead_  
 _She's got something in hand_  
 _It's a sweet cupcake!"_

She makes her Cakey plushie gets into the light, allowing people to see the fake teeth she made for it.

 _"Yeah, it's got nightmare teeth_  
 _But that's our kind of treat_  
 _Doesn't that sound great?"_

And every animatronic joins the chorus from each of their spots.

 _"It's Halloween at Freddy's_  
 _All the guests have arrived"_

Freddy walks onto the stage to join his two friends.

 _"Everyone's dying to meet you so_  
 _Won't you spend the night?"_

And the three stares down to the crowd as they slowly move their heads around while singing in unison.

 _"Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Halloween at Freddy's!"_

 _"Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Halloween at Freddy's!"_

Spring walks past the box of the Toys old shapes.

 _"New friends always run away!_  
 _On our favorite fright-filled day!"_

He takes one of the heads in an act he is investigating it before the fearful but unable to look away children.

 _"All we want to do is play!_  
 _Won't you be the one to stay?"_

The parents all turn back to the stage when Freddy, Bonnie, Chica once again sing unison.

 _"Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Halloween at Freddy's!"_

Foxy joins in with Scott near the fake security office.

 _"Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Join us!_  
 _Halloween at Freddy's!"_

Every animatronic except Freddy stops and pretend to be turned off, leaving Freddy to sing the last chorus on the dark stage.

 _"It's Halloween at Freddy's_  
 _All the guests have arrived"_

To then be 'interrupted' by Scott singing through the phone.

 _"And if you listened carefully_  
 _You might get out alive!"_

Silence, broken with the last beat of the song and Goldie appears right before people with a booming:

" **Join us!** " Finished off with menacing laughter.

That did startle a lot of people, but when the lights get turned on and animatronics now stand in a friendly manner, they applause over the great and pretty scary show. A few parents, laughing a bit, others calm down their children that got scared by the whole ordeal.  
Bonnie puts on some more cheerful music and everything returns to normal with people ordering food, talking and children having fun.  
Mike walks over to the stage and Freddy smiles down to him, asking: "So what do you think?" Mike returns the smile. "It was really good, and I am pretty sure you scared several children."  
Bonnie snorts a laugher. "Yeah, it was great." A clear sign that those ears weren't just for show. Mike is pretty sure Bonnie has fun scaring children as his way of getting revenge from all the times he has been mistaken for a female. He leaves his friends to do their job and walks over to check on Soren and Hope.  
Hope is enjoying a pizza while Soren looks a bit distracted. Mike takes a seat beside the boy. "Hey, what's up?" He asks, he sure hopes the kid didn't get scared by the show.  
Soren does not answer right away, only after a painful long hesitating. "I don't like the puppet."  
Mike glances over to Marion's body, yeah the empty stare can be quite unnerving. "Sorry, but we can't remove Marion. He's part of the group."  
Soren gives him a surprised look, Mike figures it's because Marion is not sentient like the rest. "I know it sounds weird, but Marion was once sentient like the others. I think he was a Medium like the two of you." And to his big surprise, both kids replies at the same time. "I know."

Soren and Hope give each other a look before Hopes eyes Mike and explains. "Eric was the one who saved Soren's life." And Soren explains, although in a way quieter tone. "I could only see him... before mother tried to kill me..." This catches him off guard and Mike stares at the uncomfortably sitting Soren, now confused to why he is uncomfortable around Ma— well he guesses his human name was Eric— animatronic body. "If he saved your life, then why don't you—"

"Eric told us how much he hated that body- his prison." Soren replies Mike bluntly and just looking at it makes him tense. "I can see why."  
Mike continues to stare at him confused, but does eventually stop and tells him somberly. "Sorry Soren, but Marion is going to stay."

Soren does not respond, he is annoyed, but he is not really sure why as he gets the feeling it's not the marionette that is truly the cause of it. 

* * *

**I remember in one of the review I got (sorry I cannot find out who) that questioned to why Soren is a Medium when he's only the cousin to Hope from the mother's side. Here is the reason to why, since Soren more or less died when his mother attacked him, he got a glimpse to the spirit world and thus able to see it. Marion was the one who made sure he stayed alive.**

 **I cannot say when the next chapter will be out, depends on how much the exam demands of my time and energy.**  
 **so until then, till next time**


	18. Chapter 18

**since I have a prolonged weekend, I had time to make another chapter. something I am sure you guys really like.**

 **to GhoticBunny99 and Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon: thank you, I am really happy you like this fanfiction**

 **to Thedyingjokepastaway: yeah, sorry that I forgot but as you said, it was some time ago you wrote that comment. as for your question about the Mediums in this universe. I, unfortunately, cannot tell much as it might spoil a certain plot in my story. all I can tell that Eric (Marion), Vincent and Hope are born as Mediums and are in theory stronger than those such as Soren who became a Medium through his near-death experience. there is a third way to create a Medium, one way more powerful than the others. but that I will keep quiet about for now.**

 **I got the idea to this chapter from having watched too many Reddit Entitled Parents on youtube.  
enjoy!  
**

* * *

Most of their costumes like the Halloween show and that is good since they really needed the extra money in order to truly recover from the attack Vincent did to the place a year back.  
Of course, there are those people who can see offence in everything, and since Mike, Jeremy and Scott all returned their ownership of the restaurant back to him, well now Sean has to deal with the more annoying people who refuses to speak with anyone but the manager. This particularly woman keeps complaining that the show is too scary for her precious angel, even though that kid said how much he enjoyed it after he got over the scare. "Ma'am, both our website and the sign outside clearly state that this show is not for the faint of heart." Sean explains the woman the third time during their 'convisation' and honestly is getting tired of dealing with this thickheaded mother. Of course the mother refuses to hear reason and keeps on demanding. "You need to pay for the physics trauma you caused on my poor child! This horrible show will give him nightmares for life!"  
Sean bites down a loud groan of this stupid demand. "I will not pay such things."

"You will or I will be calling the police-!"

"Ma'am, please leave, you are causing an unessarily scene and ruining the day for the rest of our costumes." Sean interrupts her, both annoyed and tried from having argued this for ten minutes straight. He can almost feel her draining his battery by mere precence. Of course, this woman refuses to leave and repeats her demands. Oh, the joy of being the man in charge...

At the door leading to the storage room, Theo is watching the currently human disguised Freddy argue with a woman. A scene that gives him strong flashbacks to back when his own body wasn't out of metal and wires. He remembers his own mother cause such a scene towards some man, using him for her argument. He remembers he did what he was told by saying what she wanted him to say, and was so confused to why the man didn't give them what they wanted and it made his mother so mad that she yelled at him on the way back home.  
That was the only attention he could ever get from her. He remembers how lonely he was and it made him so angry. An anger he is still dealing with and it does not help that the next person he thought would care for him… ended up not only being his killer but more horrible than his mother.  
Theo is angry, at himself for keep doing the same mistake but he's mostly angry at the people who pretends they care for him, only to tear it all down when he's most vulnerable.  
The only one he knows won't hurt him is Molly.  
Theo returns back downstairs and is greeted by his beloved cat. He picks up Molly and puts her on his shoulders where she will cuddle up against his head. He pets the purring cat, wondering if he would be better off if he just ran away? Doubts he will, he still remembers how scared people are of a talking robot bear…  
The sound of the door, followed by footsteps and moments later, Chiara appears in the room. "Have you seen the cape?" She asks.  
Theo merely shrugs, he has seen it but does not really care to tell her that.

Letting out a small sigh that Theo is once again in his angry mode, Chiara begins to look for the cape she made from the fabric Mike gave her last Christmas. She finds it on a chair, grabs it and is about to leave but stop when she notices that Theo does look quite sad. "You alright?" She asks him, wondering what might've hurt his feelings.

"I'm fine." Theo huffs back, wishing she just will leave him alone.

Chiara didn't get the hint though, she hasn't yet learned to read those subtle signs an adult would be able to pick up. "Okay, well BonBon is not doing so great. He's still in pain but at least Mike is there to help him through it."

"Yeah right." Theo grumbles.

Chiara gives him an annoyed look but also confused to why Theo is like this to Mike. "What is your problem anyway? Mike has been nothing but nice to us." She jerks backward when Theo snaps angrily back. "You are too stupid to understand!" She does quickly recover and barely react on the insult, she has more or less gotten used to it but that does not mean she needs to stay around and get insulted. "whatever." She leaves but stops dead in her track when Theo has the ordacity to insult BonBon. "Yeah, go and tend to the crybaby, he wouldn't know how to do anything without his babysitter."  
She shoots him a glare. "Don't call him that!" She snaps back, starting to see red, but Theo, always the one who pushes ones buttons does not back down. "Only babies cry all the time. Does he want his mommy? Oh wait, he can't get her because we are all—" Chiara slaps him hard over the face before he could finish that horrible sentence, did startle the cat but fortunately, she didn't hit Molly.  
Theo stares dumbfounded at her action, and before he recovers, she gives him a piece of her mind. "Don't you EVER insult my little brother again Theodore!" He can insult her all he likes, but no one, repeat, NO ONE should bully her younger brother.

Little brother? Theo blinks in confusion. Shouldn't she consider Chica a sibling? "He's not your brother." He argues. "He's not a bird" So imaged his surprise by Chiara's retort back. "Leo is my real little brother you stupid idiot! And… and…" Tears begin to fall from her eyes, startling him further, before he can say anything, she starts yelling again, this time with tears falling. "and I broke my promise to our parents! I couldn't protect him against that monster!" She collapses onto the bed, still crying. "Now we can never see mommy and daddy again…"  
Theo can only stand and watch Chiara cry into the bed, he is shocked to hear what she told him through her anger and sadness. Not only does she remember like him but BonBon is her real family and… she thinks that it was her fault she couldn't protect him against Vincent. No wonder why she is so clingy to him.  
Molly, sensing Chiara is sad, jumps onto the bed and with a somber 'miav' strokes her head and body against the crying girl.

Chiara pets the cat, then slowly she gets up, dries away the tears and tells the frozen on his spot Theo. "You are a jerk, you know that." She remarks darkly, takes the cape and leaves. She does not get far though, for right at the door stands Bonnie. Both freeze up, for the adult rabbit does not look happy at all.

"See to your brother." Bonnie tells Chiara softly, she leaves and Bonnie turns his full attention on Theo, kid knows he's in trouble yet is unable to hide his anger, anger against pretty much the whole world. Bonnie's not sure why but Theo's behavior reminds him about himself. Back when he was young in mind, he was also angry all the gosh darn time. Thanks to his friends and the golden two, his anger faded into a more snarky but friendlier nature. It's clear the kid needs help. Problem is; Theo does not trust any human to get near him, Mike did tell them about that problem, but Bonnie isn't exactly human anymore. "You going to tell me what made you lash out this time?" He asks the kid and isn't really surprised he gots no answer, only that look of fear and defiance. Well, good thing Spring taught him by experience a good way to loosen up that lock. "Alright, have it your way." Bonnie crosses his arms and tells the young bear in a tone this is not up for debate. "Let's start with cleaning up this room. After closing, you and I will be doing some work outside." Theo argues but when he realizes he won't escape from this, the young animatronics slowly begins to clean up the room. Bonnie leaves the room with: "I'll be back in an hour and there better be a difference from how it looks now."  
He walks over to where Chica is entertaining some children and after have gotten her away from unwanted ears, he explains her the situation and wanting to give Theo the same treatment he got all those years back. When he was a brat and Spring and Goldie gave him a timeout by doing chores every time he went through a temper tantrum. He knows that after some hard work, his mind was more receptive to hear the adults out and talk out what made him angry in the first place.

Chica simply nods, figuring that Bonnie, who also dealt with anger issues like Theo, might get through that wall the young bear has built up around himself. "Alright, let's hope this will return the sweet boy we saw before Vincent ruined it all again." Bonnie nods in agreement.

Fortunately, Theo did not slack off but did what he was told by cleaning the room downstairs, Bonnie helped him drying off dust and when the last customer and employee have left, Bonnie then takes Theo outside. He gives the bear a rag and tells him. "Now we are going to brush all the leaves into one pile" Theo looks ready to argue but Bonnie stops him. "No buts, now let's get started." And so they did, Bonnie did help, not only to make sure Theo did not slack off but also give the bear a sense of teamwork. He remembers that Spring gave him that sense when the hare helped him clean the restaurant as his chore for bad behavior. It won't give fruit right away, for if Theo is anything like him: well, it will first get worse before it gets better.

While Bonnie handles Theodore, Chica decides to get a talk with Chiara and as they suspected, the young chicken does remember her human past and Chica must say to the child. "You are a very strong girl, Chiara." She tells her, not many children can keep up the responsibility Chiara put on herself by taking care of BonBon. One who really has trouble dealing with being back in his robot body. Even with her own issues, Chiara still takes care of him. "Not many children in your age can take on such responsibility while having deep issues like you."  
Chiara dries away a tear, doing a small smile of the praise but Chica will remind the young girl. "But don't forget there are a lot of people that are willing to help you. This responsibility can be shared and it's okay to say you need help."

"I will remember it." Chiara replies, just knowing she is stronger than she thought and can get help if it gets too much makes the pain she feels of not being able to go home because of her mistake less painful. She hugs Chica who returns it.  
Does leave her with one gloomy thought through. "What about Theo?" She does really not want to face him again, but at one point has to since they live under the same roof and also in the near future have to perform together.

Chica hums her thoughts for a moment before she answers. "Well, Theo pretends he is tough but deep inside, he is scared."

This confuses the young chicken. "Scared of what?" He does not look scared of anything, just… angry all the time.  
Chica strokes her wings over her back, explaining softly. "He is scared to get hurt. Boys have a silly tendency hiding their pain behind anger. They think this anger will protect them and in some ways it does as it pushes people away they fear will hurt them, but they cannot do anything against the loneliness."  
That does make Chiara wonder since none of the Toys really wants anything to do with Theo when he began picking fights with them for no reason. "Is he lonely?"

"Yes, but he refuses to admit it." Chica replies and knowing Chiara has it in her nature to try and help people, she warns the young one not to try and approach Theo at the moment. "Theo needs time to realize why he is so angry though. So it's best to leave him alone for a bit, be friendly but don't try too hard to get on his good side."

Chiara is not entirely sure what Chica means but for her, it sounds like it's best she keeps her distance to the bear, at least until he stops being so angry all the time. Fine by her. Although she does feels bad for Theo that he is in some ways hurting himself without even knowing. 

* * *

**bit of character development for Chiara and Theodore. I am planning on touching a bit more on the two but right now I have my mind on another person. so if you have ideas for what you would like to see with the Toys, feel free to comment. who knows, it might become a chapter.**

 **till next time.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Bonnie: *strumming on guitar* so, now you have summer vacation, do you think you can put out more chapter?**

 **probably? I mean I still have several personal things that need my full attention, so only time will tell if I can put out more chapters per week.**

 **Bonnie: pretty sure the readers would be happy if you gave them a chapter once a week instead each month.**

 **oh go and eat a carrot and let me worry about writing.**

 **Bonnie: and the hate comments**

 **wasn't worth my attention, anyway, to the more happier comments.**

 **to Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon: Sister Location will definitely be included. I might include some voice lines or scenes from Custom Night and I am still wrenching my brain on Help Wanted, would like to include GlitchTrap but not sure how I can put him in.**

 **to Thedyingjokepastaway: heh, yeah, I did make Theo's mother after all those Reddit posts about Entitled parents, might be a bit cliché but even I cannot always avoid them. Well, that remark about what might happen in Theo's future punishment has my attention, and certainly something I would hear further suggestions about. and about the Freddles...**

 **Molly: *trots happily away with a Freddle in her mouth***

**yeah, not going to be a problem.**

 **a lot of you asked about this back when I wrote Facing the Past, so enjoy this retake on the reunion.**

* * *

Nathan loves his job, don't get him wrong but he really does not like the fact that he cannot leave when on duty unless someone he knows is dying. Well, it's quite the opposite for him at the moment; if what Mike told him was true that is.

His dead son has come back from the other side and is once again haunting the animatronic named Foxy. The detective wanted to see his son right after he got the call, but he couldn't as he was on duty in keeping Soren's mother away from her son and niece. Must admit it is quite the chore. Woman refuses to give up and he can only keep an eye on her for so long. The papers of Mike becoming the kids' new ward hasn't yet gone through and it's only a matter of time before he and the cheif can make up excuses to keep her away from the kids.

Fortunately, the woman does not know the children are living at Freddy's and if she did, well Nathan is pretty sure the once again sentient robots won't allow her to take them. Hopefully, they are smart enough not to harm the woman when they throw her out, this detective got enough paperwork as it is. Been one of the reasons why he couldn't go to Freddy's before week's end, and… well, Nathan is worried too, worried that Daniel won't forgive him for his past mistakes. He can't really blame his boy if that's the case, he hasn't exactly been the greatest father…

Still, this fear won't stop Nathan in going, he needs to speak the words he has held ever since that bastard took his son's life.

He went to the restaurant when sure the place has closed down for the day. He has to take a moment in his car to gather his nerves and with a deep breath, he leaves the car and walks over to the front door.

It does not take long before someone opens the locked door, it is Mike and the young man must've known why he is here. "He's outside." Is all Mike says and he lets the detective inside. Nathan thanks him and after have nodded a quick hello to the other animatronics, he heads outside. Here he finds the fox animatronic that houses his son's soul doing some sort of roleplay with a white fox and three young people, two of them are the children Mike is trying to get guardianship over.

Nathan does not approach the scene, instead, he watches his son build up a world for the young ones by mere words and his charismatic. To his small disbelief and deep regret, Nathan realizes that Daniel did the very same thing back when he had a body out of flesh. The only difference that Daniel now has learned how to make the story more coherent for others. He does not babbler or stumbles over his words as he did as a child. The enthusiasm jumping around is still there, and right at that moment, Nathan realizes that his son; even in such a small age knew exactly what he wanted… and all that held him back was his own father.

Unaware of the audience, Foxy continue on putting more meat onto the small game Soren and Hope started, now turned into an epic adventure about a wizard and his student have just encountered the quiet but strong warrior that has a familiar fox inside the Monster Forest. Being the monster, Foxy leaps out from behind one of the trees, doing a very good job in letting them know he is a threat to the heroes.

Thomas is the first to spot him and lifts his 'sword', ready to fight the monster. Before he charges in though, Soren stops him. "Wait, no mere weapon can defeat this monster." He pulls out the pouch he filled with sand not long ago and pours some of it on the large branch. Saying some makeup words for a spell.

"Now, your sword has the powers of a great storm." Soren explains. Thomas nods and charges in with Vixey close behind, Foxy leaps over Vixey to then 'stalk' around her and Thomas while doing monster sounds. The young adult jumps in to 'slash' his back but Foxy, wanting to make the two magic users to help, leaps away, grabs Thomas's leg and makes him tumble to the ground.

Hope gasps and runs over, Soren follows soon after. She waves her hands, shouting: "Ice storm!" Foxy pretends he gets hit by ice and backs away from the bit disorientated Thomas from the sudden fall. Soren then waves his 'staff' around and calls. "No one can break this magical shield!" "hich allows Hope to 'heal' Thomas up and give Vixey a power boost. Foxy waits patiently for the 'shield' to fade and when Vixey pretends horror that the shield is down. He goes in for the attack, is careful not to hurt the kids and allows them to hit him with their weapons. And when Thomas hits him on the back with the stick, he does quite of a show before he acts like he is dead.

"We did it!" Hope cheers, jumping up and down in sheer excitement along with Vixey.

Thomas grins widely to Soren who tries but utterly fails to pretend that he did not find this playfight epic. Vixey then waves the others to follow and they run deeper into the forest as their search for the magical artifact isn't over yet.

Foxy grins at those four bonding thanks to this game, he gets up and does wonder what kind of beast should stand in their way the next—

"Daniel"

Foxy's eyes wide in shock, slowly he turns around and in what feels like forever, staring at the policeman he knows is his father.

The detective stands a bit awkwardly, clearly struggling with what he wants to say. Foxy is glad he's not the only one, their last meeting wasn't exactly a good one.

"They seemed to have fun." The detective finally speaks and Foxy replies, still not entirely sure what to do with this whole situation. "Yeah, most kids do when I spice up the game."

"So I see."

Silence, and again an awkward one.

Foxy shifts unsure on his feet, wondering if it would be rude to excuse himself and leave?

Before he can even put that thought out to reality, detective Williams let's out a sigh and speaks. "Daniel, I… I am sorry." All the professionalism the detective usually have is completely gone, much to Foxy's surprise but he won't voice that as saying those few words clearly was hard for the man.

And it was, Nathan is a proud and also quite the stubborn man, but he needs to say this. He is uncanny lucky in having a third chance to speak with his son, something other parents would pay all their wealth for.

"I shouldn't have tried to make you into something you never wanted to be, to begin with. I should have been more supportive in your interests, even if I never did and never will understand the appeal to it." He has never been good with imagination, more into logic. Which has really been put to its test ever since that puppet involved him into all of this, however, Nathan will be more than happy to throw his logic away if it means to get a second chance with his son. "But it does not matter what I think. This:" He gestures to where the kids are playing. "Makes you happy, and that's good enough for me. I know I haven't been the greatest father and…" Nathan lets out another sigh, he's not used to rambling like this. "What I am trying to say; can we do a fresh start?"

Parts of him want to say no, mostly from the very few memories he has about his father but… Foxy still remembers how he envied the children when watching them be around their parents while he was lacking the only two who could offer him any sense of having a supporting adult role. Yes, he still considers Scott his father and that probably will never change. Foxy is not sure he ever will consider his biological father as his father without his human memories, but he does not want to remember. He is content in simply being Foxy. Yes, parts of him think he does not need the detective but another part of him: wants to repair what little they had, now that his biological father finally has accepted who he is. So, he agrees on the detective's request. "Yeah, let's do a fresh start." The detective's eyes light up, and Foxy hates to destroy that but he has to tell his father that he probably never is going to see him as such. "I really hate to break this to you but… a program in me makes me consider someone here, a man named Scott as my father."

That newsflash hits hard, but Nathan tries not to let it affect him too much. "Oh, um… you won't see me as your…?" Daniel shakes his head with a somber. "Maybe if I remember my human past." The look in those yellow eyes shows that Daniel is afraid to remember, and really, Nathan does not blame him. He will be forced to remember his own death and according to Mr. Fitzgerald: there is a great chance the possessed animatronic goes insane from being forced to relive their own death. Not something he wants his own son to relive, not even to be called dad again. "I understand..." Nathan muses. It is really disappointing to never be considered a father from his own son, but, he shouldn't take he at least gets a second chance repairing their relationship for granted. "Does this Scott treat you good?" He asks, mostly just to be polite and really has to bite down his pride from how Daniel lights up. "You have no idea! I'm surprised he was able to put up with us— back when he found us, I, Freddy, Bonnie and Chica weren't really there in the head but he stuck with us and boy am I glad he did it!"

Nathan listens to his own son gush over a man he now considers his father, it hurts but he refuses to let it affect him. His son is happy and that is all that matters.

However, he needs time to adjust for this major change and excuses himself after about ten minutes of his son praising his adoptive father. Daniel didn't seem to mind and with a cheerful. "Talk to you later, detective." He heads over to the children playing inside the small forest area they have. Nathan refused to show how much it stung being called detective instead of dad by his own son.

Walking back inside, it does not take him long to notice which of the remaining people of who the animatronics considers their new father.

Fre— no Sean, is talking to a man a few years older than Nathan, in a manner of respect a child would to a parent they care about. Nathan decides to have a little chat with the man, hopefully, he is not interrupted in an urgent discussion. "Can I talk with you for a moment?" He asks Scott.

Forgetting about the talk on their restocking their storage with Freddy, Scott turns to the Detective, worrying their local policeman wants to talk to him about something serious. "Of course." and tells Freddy. "I will check the list a bit later."

Freddy nods, eyes Detective Williams and gives the man a polite nod in which the detective returns. Freddy then leaves to give them some privacy.

"I spoke with my son." Detective Williams remarks, catching Scott by surprise as this was not the conversation he was expecting. "Oh, how did it go?"

The Detective lowers his gaze and begins to scratch his neck. "He is willing to give me a second chance."

That's good news, before the whole soul release, Foxy did at one point voice that he did not feel like giving his biological father a second chance, glad to see that Foxy changed his mind. "That's good news." He smiles, but it does fade when he realizes that Foxy's true father does not seem as thrilled as he should. "Something wrong?"

Detective Williams lets out a sight. "He does not consider me as his father, but you."

Oh, he forgot about that imprint program. Scott feels bad he- without meaning- took that title away from Foxy's biological father. "I'm sorry, I uh, never meant to rob this away from you."

The Detective nods, he did not seem happy but at least has a look he is trying to come to terms with this. "Daniel said some program did it."

"Yes, we call it the imprinting program." Scott replies, thinking maybe he should explain how it works. Well, as best as he now can since he does not fully understand it fully either. "I do not fully know why they have it, only that they bonded to me in a time of great distress. They were so scared that it made them, uh well pretty dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Nathan asks, he does not like how Scott is checking if anyone is close enough to hear them and he especially did not like the answer. "Um…well, let's just say, the company got quite good at hiding evidence…" Was it really that bad? "How many?" He asks but parts of him really do not want the answer to that question.

Sensing that, Scott muses. "It's best you don't know…" and it is a bit of a surprise that the Detective did not press him for a solid answer or where those poor sods now lie buried. He is however not surprised by the next question. "Were they aware of this?" and to this Scott can confidently say: "No, their mainframes were too limited for such awareness." Yes they are aware they accidentally hurt him, but he thinks it's because they kept seeing him and the limp he dealt with back then.

Nathan nods slowly, it is against his moral of not reporting this but… hell, would anyone believe him that the robots that took those people lives were sentient robots, having child spirits stuck inside? He highly doubts it, so maybe this topic is best left forgotten. For the animatronics sanity and safety sake.

"Don't ever reveal this to them." He tells Scott in a commanding tone, well aware that it will break his son and friends if they knew they have killed people.

"I promise." Scott replies. He has long told himself that this secret will stay buried like the building that once was Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy's home.

* * *

 **Detective Williams has done a lot of mistakes when it comes to his own son, but he is willing to repair their relationship, even if it means accepting something he never is going to understand. I am pretty sure a lot of parents feels the same way.**

 **I will try and see if I can put out a chapter once per week, but no promises.**

 **till next time.**


	20. Chapter 20

**to Thedyingjokepastaway: I will see if I can make a chapter having some of the things you suggested.**  
 **I totally agree that Foxy calling his dad by his profession is pretty awkward, but Foxy actually did it out of politeness and because he didn't feel comforable to call, one he considers a stranger by first name.**  
 **yeah, it sounds about right, more so when she discovers what Mike has been doing to ensure that Soren won't return back to her.**

 **to Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon: hmm, that might work. will go quite some time before I can even attempt writing this idea into the story though.**

 **to everyone else, enjoy the story.**

* * *

 _Marion finds himself before a dilapidated mansion, it looks familiar but he cannot put where, only he feels compelled to enter. Like this place will give him answers he seeks— without knowing he is looking for._  
 _He enters the building, and only there he realizes why he recognizes the place. It's the same place where he protected Mike from that maniac. He only knows he succeed because Mike is alright back at Freddy's, not sure what happened to the maniac though, not that he really cares._  
 _Might as well check this place out, see why he felt compelled to come here. He walks up to the stairs and does stop when his eyes notice a large picture. It is kept in a rather good condition compared to the rest of this place, honestly why it hasn't been torn down already is beyond him.  
On this picture that is held by a fancy tree frame is what he presumes was the family of this mansion. An old man, a young adult and a small child. None of them really looks happy, he observes, especially not the child. Other than that, the picture does not tell much. He has problems getting the subtle differences between people faces and this picture is so ruined by time that finding something to recognize them is long gone._  
 _Marion leaves the large picture behind, instead he walks upstairs and attention caught way more by the wonder of what in the world has destroyed that door. He's about to check what lies inside that room with the broken door, however, he never gets the chance to do that._  
 _  
"I see I am not the only one compelled to return here."_

 _He turns around in reaction to the voice, downstairs stands a spirit, it looks like any other spirits, maybe more solid and aware than most but that's about it. Marion is not sure why, though but he has the sense he should recognize this spirit but the reason to why: he has no idea and honestly, he does not really care._

 _The spirit titles slightly it's head. "Don't you recognize me?" They ask with a crooked smile._

 _He does not answer._

 _The spirit laughs softly and walks up to him, stopping before the large picture. "Wow, I knew you were desperate to put all of this behind but not THAT much."  
Marion follows the spirit gaze to the large picture, not sure what that spirit is talking about, the picture sure does not give out any clues. He turns his eyes back to the spirit when that one asks vaguely. "Do they know of what you did?"_

 _Again he does not answer but is starting to get annoyed by this spirit, maybe also a bit confused about what this dead person is talking about._  
 _The spirit lets out a sigh and leaves. Marion slowly follows, having a sense this spirit is harmless, for now at least._  
 _He follows the spirit inside a room that, by the looks of it, is a bedroom of that child from the picture. Being part of a place made to entertain kids, Marion observes there aren't that many toys for the kid, considering they should've been with a rich family._

 _The spirit takes a seat on the rotting bed from the water that would fall onto it during every rainstorm. "Are you planning on to continue giving me the silent treatment?"_

 _He does not answer, simply watching the man._  
 _The spirit shakes their head in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me… you aren't even aware of this yourself are you?"_  
 _Aware of what? He titles his head slightly._

 _The spirit makes the same move people does when rolling their eyes. "That explains your passive attitude and strong outbursts. But seriously, do you have any idea of who you are?" The spirit asks, pointing at his chest. Marion looks down and lifts his slender black fingers, his sight begins to blur in the corners and jumping like his eyes are getting strong bolts of electricity. He turns to the man, but all he sees is a black spirit with purple eyes standing uncomfortably close to him. Before he can step back, the black spirit grabs him around the throat and lifts him off the floor._  
 _ **"You can try all you like but you cannot hide from what you truly are, Eric."** The black spirit tells him menacingly. " **Wake up and face the fact."** The spirit lets go and his conscience falls into darkness, only the voice of the man can be heard._

 ** _"You are a coldhearted murder: Just. Like. Me."_**

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It is nice that Halloween is over and they now can focus on Christmas, something Freddy is starting to think is his favorite time of year. He does not care much about the "present frenzy". He better like the spirit of the holiday of spending quality time with friends and family, plus he really likes snow. Freddy is not ashamed to admit that he returns back to his soul's age every time a good layer of snow has fallen, he loves goofing around in it.  
But it's still too early for snow, and unfortunately, Freddy has a lot of things to handle now that Mike, Scott and Jeremy have returned all ownership of the restaurant back to him.  
Their absent for a year has really put a decline on the flow of customers, and according to the files Scott has been recording in the manager's computer, the restaurant had been really close to bankruptcy about four months after the death of Vincent. Fortunately, they pulled through and Freddy is very glad he made the choice in giving them the restaurant if something happened to him and the others. He is however happy to have the whole place under his name again. Yes, Freddy is aware it is egotistical of him but it's really hard not to think the restaurant as his when it has his name on.  
Anyway, things are starting to look good. The Halloween show really got people's attention and Goldie made the smart choice in inviting the press to take some pictures for the local newspaper, like many other times, that really helped on attracting more customers.

"Still looking at the budget?" Goldie asks as he appears inside the office, like many other times; he does not use the door and instead teleports wherever he wants to be. He is not surprised to find Freddy sitting before the computer and looking at the past income.  
Freddy simply nods with a soft hum.  
Goldie rolls his eyes before he steps over to take a look at how their budget is now. He smiles at what he sees. "Well, well, looks like a simple holiday show really got people's attention." Adding with a grin to his younger brother. "If this keeps going, we will be fully back on our feet before Christmas."

Freddy nods in agreement, yes, if they keep gaining customers like this, then soon everything will be back to normal. Well, not quite. "I think we should save up our money for a new expansion." He suggests and his brother raises slightly a brow at this. "Oh?" Goldie has a curious look of why he is suggested this.  
Freddy knows it might be early to think about such things. With them having only been back for two months, but from how things are now, he thinks it will do them all good. "Mike did talk about moving out and find himself an apartment, but..." He eyes Goldie with a somewhat hard gleam in his striking blue eyes. "Call me paranoid, but I don't think that would be such a good idea. Mike won't stand a chance against a dark spirit, only you do and I doubt Mike will want your trolling butt as his roommate." Goldie laughs at his description of him. Freddy quirks a smile, it does fade when he continues. "So it would be for the best Mike stays here, not only for Soren and Hope's sake but for the Toys as well." The still kid animatronics really needs Mike to deal with their soul pain. He and the others are getting used to it, but the kids need someone supportive and all of them— minus Theo— looks at Mike for that support.

"So you only want expansion on the room downstairs?" Goldie asks.

"Not exactly." Freddy shakes his head, he grabs a pen and makes a quick drawing on the restaurant's current layout. He points at the section where the pirate cove and small drawing corner is located. "I would like another room, better suited for Foxy. For in the restaurant's current state: children have trouble hearing his stories if we happen to play music."

"Plus Vixey is starting to join his show, which his small stage is not really built for two animatronic foxes." Goldie points out and can see what Freddy is looking for with this new party room. He takes the pen from the brown bear and sketches his take on how this new room could look like. It won't be as big as the Game room, but big enough to have a few props for the pirate show and also give Spring more space for those children that want to be more creative. He points this out to Freddy, explaining him. "It should spare us from using the dining room's tables and if we put the creative corner in this new room, we can get more equipment for Spring."

His thoughts exactly. "Something I am certain Spring would appreciate." Freddy has taken notice that Spring more than once didn't have enough space to move properly around the creative corner, much to the hare's annoyance but of course, Spring never said it out loud.  
Goldie nods in agreement, he then stares at the sketch for a moment before he takes it, saying: "Well, I suggest we slowly start on the room downstairs. After that, we can think about the—"

"Sean, we got a huuuugge problem!" Rena burst through the door, holding a newspaper.  
Both her brother and Goldie turn around and Freddy asks worried as he gets up from the chair. "What's wrong?" She will show him, Rena hands him the newspaper holding the horrible news. "Our rivals are trying to steal all our customers with a grand Christmas show!" Freddy frowns but does take the paper and starts to read the disaster their rivals are doing to take away their business. His frowns deepen but now more a comically one and he asks a bit dumbfounded. "Why in the world do you say that place is our rivals?" Much to Rena's disbelief as it should be obvious. "Because it opened right at the time we almost went bankrupt and they have animatronics!" She points angrily at the picture of the four animatronics of this rival company. "Circus Baby's Pizza World want to take all our customers away!" and asks with pretty much fire in her eyes. "So what are we going to do about it?"  
Freddy and Goldie look at one another, and after a moment of silence, they both begin to chuckle, much to her disbelief. "Why are you two laughing? This is serious!" She yells angrily at them for not seeing how serious this is.

He might be new to this as well, but he has read enough about show business to know it would only be a matter of time before some other company would butt into this kind of brand. "Rena, this new company might have the same brand like us. But that does not makes them our rivals." Freddy tells his sister rather amused that she got all fired up about such a silly thing. He hands her back the newspaper showing the four animatronics for that small company, unlike them, these robots have smooth covers and went with the circus theme compared to their more band theme. "Those people are simply trying to get onto the wagon Fazbear Entertainment started all those years ago."

"It will still take our customers." Rena argues.

That might be true, but Freddy is certain that this restaurant can survive even if they got competition with this new animatronic restaurant. "I doubt they will take all of them. We have a lot of loyal customers."  
"Not to mention children do prefer furriers over dolls." Goldie remarks with a huge grin on his face. Freddy gives his brother a deadpan stare from what the golden bear called them. "We are not furriers." He tells Goldie as he really does not want people to get the wrong idea.

"Now that Goldie mentions it, you guys are furriers!"

Rena didn't really make it better… "Please don't call me that… I am still trying to delete those pictures out from my memory bank…" Freddy groans from that past mistake that he should NEVER click on a popup link on the internet.

She probably should feel sorry for him, but knowing her brother found the more naughty side of furry is hilarious and she just can't help herself. "Aren't you sure you want to keep some of them? I have seen a few drawings with cute female bears." Her brother shoots her a glare but he pretty much fails to look intimidating with that pinkish glow around his cheeks. Rena almost collapses laughing. "hahahaha! Oh my god, I knew it!"  
"Rena, this isn't funny!" Freddy yells at her but she does not care, it is so much fun watching her calm and collected brother get all flustered over what he once found on the internet. "Yes it is! Even you have a naughty side!"

And all his adult calmness is thrown out of the window, replaced with a flustered kid side. "It's those stupid programs! Do you have any idea how embarrassing they were in the start!?" Freddy retorts back to his sister. Did not help one bit, for Rena is still laughing. "Did they give you a puberty program?! Ha ha! That explains why you aren't acting like a kid!" Getting enough by she embarrassing him, Freddy picks her up from the floor with: "You the one acting like a kid!" And she did not make it better by flailing around and whining for him to let her go. "Sean, put me down! This isn't fair!"  
He does not, instead, he throws her over his shoulders and walks out with her still struggling but to no avail as his muscles are out of metal. "Life's not fair, sis." Freddy retorts back to her, wearing a trollish grin worthy of Goldie.

The others turn away from what they are doing, but none are trying to save Rena from getting carried around like a damsel in distress by her anthropomorphic bear brother. Instead, several are laughing at the scene while the remianing others are simply watching to see how this is going to play out.

"Sean~!" Rena cries annoyed from her brother's shoulder, but all she is getting from him is a wide smirk. She shoots him a glare. "Put me DOWN!" In which he replies with a happy. "Non!" So she starts flailing again, by mere luck, she hits his nose with her feet and the embarrassment from the 'squeak' coming from it made him stop just long enough for Rena to get free from his grip and slide down from his chest.  
Both give each other a 'let's agree on a truce' look. Rena points out to her 'older brother'. "You are aware that I am technically older now?"

Freddy snorts amused by that remark. "Maybe, but I am technically still your older brother." He throws back and returns back to the office. His sister follows with a fake whining. "Aww~ I wanted to be the oldest~!"

Goldie laughs at the sibling spat going on with those two, he's happy Freddy and Rena are treating each other as family.  
He does, however, think it's best to explain Rena that even if Freddy and his friend's souls are of children. Their advanced programs from the Upgrade have made their minds able to age into more or less the age they would have been if they were alive. "The mechanics gave us a program that not only stores most of our memories but gives us the ability to feel more advanced emotions. The side effect is that our minds develop a sense of maturity from this." Gesturing to Freddy. "Hence why your brother is not stuck in the age he died in."

Must admit that she is happy the animatronics have this program. "Even if I would like having a younger sibling. I do not think I would want to deal with Sean as a seven-year-old brat." Freddy gives her a look for that remark, she returns it by sticking her tongue at him but does take this subject a bit serious as she wonders out loud. "I do wonder how it would be if you never would be able to grow up?"

"Forever be stuck as a child? It's not as fun as it sounds." Freddy muses and, like Rena, is happy his mind has aged thanks to that program. Yes, his fast puberty did cause him a lot of embarrassment but it did allow his mind to handle the trauma and hardship he went through better than his child mind was able. "A lot of people might want to return to their childhood naivety and lack of understanding for the future. But I am glad that is gone, not knowing your own future and lacking the understanding to why people did what they did: it was hell. In the former location… I was more like a caged animal than a child."  
Freddy explains no one in particular. He is happy to no longer being a child as that caused nothing but misery for him. Being an adult allowed him the control he desperately needed and with a safe and calmer environment, he can now allow himself to relax and play. He doesn't care much what he caught parents say when they saw Mike goofing around, for there's no limit to be child-like and have fun.  
He blinks when he feels someone's arms around his torso, he looks down and sees it is Rena who is hugging him, it startles him to see tears in her eyes. Freddy realizes the mistake of his former words. "Rena, I'm sorry..."

"Don't." Rena tells her brother in a hard tone through the small sobs. "I'm angry at what those jerks did to you..." Freddy gently returns the hug, musing. "Yeah… but it's over now." She nods into his furry chest, glad that he is indeed right. The reason to why she barged into the room is long forgotten.

Goldie watches the heartfelt scene between brother and sister, and does wonder when the Toys— as Rena so fancily called it— puberty program activates in them. Maybe it already has in some of them and they just react differently than Freddy did. Maybe it's more like Foxy, who never seemed to leave his childish behavior behind. Goldie does not really any idea, he only hopes the program will help the Toys to get better control over their lives and be mature enough to realize that they don't have to let their past dictate their future. 

* * *

**Did you really think we got rid of him that easily? no, someone like that always comes back to torment those they hurt in the first place.**

 **I am planning to 'age' some of the Toys, I know from experience that a childish mind cannot handle big personal issues. I only got a better understanding and thus control over my own life when I became more adult. does however not mean I have thrown my childhood away. I am not afraid to admit I still goof around, gets excited to watch cartoons and loves to nerd out with whatever game I like.  
I am no longer childish but still very much child-like.**

 **so if you are about to join the ranks of the adults and afraid to leave the joy of childhood behind. don't be, it only leaves if you allow it to.**

 **till next time**


	21. Chapter 21

With the animatronics return, it feels like this place is getting more crowded by the day, that's at least what Jeremy feels like and for once he finds that a good thing. He was getting bored from not having much to do all day and much rather want to have trouble in keeping track on people than be watching the same family for hours on end.

He is glad that things have more or less returned back to how it was before Vincent came and fucked it all up. Glad he's a simple security guard whose only problem is annoying customers and rowdy children.

He does fortunately not have to deal with stupid parents who think the world spins around them, only a pair of preteens that have a potty mouth like him.

"Hey, I know you two are having fun with the game, but try and keep the swearing down." He tells the two in a hard but also trying to keep it friendly tone. The two kids looked ready to give him snarky combat, that until they recognize him and so did he. Last time they caused trouble, he threw them out and it looks like they remember he's not the type taking crap from anyone.

"We will, sorry sir." One of them speaks in a polite tone and they do keep their swearing down. Jeremy must say he is impressed that a pair of preteens, two he knows have attitudes, did in fact listen and did as they were told. And for that, he will allow them to hog that game, even if their time is long overdue.

He passes the book corner where he spots Goldie reading a book for several kids, his brother is not there though. Probably stalking him, ready to do one of his antics.

Well, not this time. Jeremy spots his brother at the Parts and Service door, seemly having a chat with his son. He decides not to head over and hear what they are talking about, he thinks it's best father and son handle that on their own.

Scouting around for troublemakers, Jeremy has to stop for a moment and watch the usual reversed and snide Soren is all social by playing with a small group of kids. All of them using an item they either brought or won from the gift corner in their small game. It's good to see the young teen act more like his age, but not even he can deny the fact that Soren has been forced to grow up fast thanks to what he has already been through.

Jeremy does however not approach the kid, the shadow of the Twisted One still looms over him and he fears he might give in and do something to harm the kid, and that's the last thing he wants. It was bad enough he hurt Mike.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Near closing, a small family walk inside Freddy's, bit unusual since people are starting to leave but this family has a very good reason to come at this hour.

At the scene, Bonnie notices them and his face changes slightly from his surprise in reaction to him recognizing the mother. The customers did not notice this faint reaction, the parents of this small family did, but for now ignored them and instead takes a seat at one of the tables.

A waiter comes over and has to give the family a heads-up. "I'm sorry, but you won't be able to get any food at this hour near closing. Only drinks and a few snacks."

"That's alright." Askr replies the woman with a friendly smile, he and Kate did expect this and they didn't come here for the food. However, the drive over here did make him thirsty. "Could I get a cola?" The waiter nods and turns to his wife.

"The same." Kate replies while she gently rocks the stroller.

The waitress leaves to fetch them their drinks, waiting for both that and the animatronic to be ready for their reason for coming.

On the stage, the three animatronics are watching Kate and her family closely, all three a bit confused to her sudden arrival and more so when it looks like she's here for the sake of family and not for business.

Bonnie eyes Freddy and asks quietly. "Any idea why Kate is here with her family I presume?"

Freddy gives the rabbit a small shrug, he gently puts a hand on the microphone before he replies. "We will see in a few moments. Place about to close."

And so right he is. The waitress gives the two their drinks and from how she spoke to them. The three know the waitress warned them that the restaurant is closing for the day. She did begin to shift strangely on her feet from whatever the man is saying. Freddy and Chica glance to Bonnie, the only one of the three that has any hope on catching what the man had been saying.

Bonnie frowns at what he heard. "He's here to speak with the owner." Completely ignoring the few eyes are left, Bonnie turns to face Freddy, not hiding his confusion of the situation. "Something about being our lawyer."

Freddy and Chica blink, with the latter asking. "Since when did we get a lawyer?" But none of them have an answer to that. So all they can do is wait for the staff to leave, so they can figure out what's the deal is with this lawyer.

With the last of the cleaning staff out, Askr leaves the table and steps over to the stage, where he speaks directly to the one Kate said is the owner of the restaurant. "Hello, Freddy. I'm Askr; your unofficial lawyer."

Freddy eyes him but does not respond, Askr is quick to realize why and he does not blame him from being careful. "Ah, don't worry about hiding your sentient around me. I mean, my father-in-law is Calem." He chuckles and as hoped, that broke the ice.

"One hell of a way of starting a conversation." The purple rabbit laughs and jumps off the stage. Askr laughs at the rabbit's response but before he can even reply on the rabbit, Freddy calls annoyed. "Bonnie!" In which Bonnie blows a raspberry at the bear. "Lay off, I'm off duty, so I can speak whatever the hell I want."

The chicken leaves the stage as well, giggling joins Bonnie. "You do know he will knock you out for that." In which Bonnie replies cheeky. "I like to see him try."

"Challenge accepted, Bonnie!" Freddy calls back and as hoped, that wipes his stupid grin off. Bonnie makes a face like he bit citrus. "You take crap like this too seriously…" and leaves along with Chica who is laughing her butt off. Freddy laughs too, does quickly stop as he turns to the man who introduced himself as Askr. "I presume Kate told you this." He speaks to the man and follows Askr over to one of the tables.

Askr nods he guessed correctly. "Yes, I have known about your sentience for quite some time now." The man takes a seat and Freddy follows suit, he does blink when Kate explains him briefly. "Askr was the one who ensured you got the ownership of the company after Scott was presumed dead."

Ah, that explains that little mystery, Freddy has a few times been questioning how in the world they got enough money to start this whole business. "Then for granting us a chance of a normal life: I and every other animatronic thank you Askr." He tells the man and adds just as sincerely to Kate. "And the same for you Kate, Goldie said you regret what you put us through during the Upgrade." Kate winches slightly by the mention of that whole ordeal. Freddy rather not go through the pain again, but- "I can say this with confidence that I will gladly go through it again if it will save me from the existence you first saw us in."

Hearing that from Freddy, one who did put up quite the fight during the Upgrade, Kate can now feel at ease knowing that he is thankful for have gone through the agony in return for the body he has now. "I'm glad to hear I made the right choice." Freddy nods in agreement, his friendly smile does get replaced with a somewhat hard expression, one she recognizes as his "down to business" face. And so right she is as the animatronic bear asks Askr. "Why did you come here as our lawyer? Has something come up?"

"Unfortunately yes." Askr replies Freddy, he hands the bear the papers of an upcoming trial. "Thanks to the papers from the father and Mike joined to be a foster parent, I was able to put Hope under his care. Soren… well, there are some issues with his foster program. One of them being his biological mother."

Freddy tenses up, and Askr can only guess the full reason to why. He only knows from the detective that Soren's mother might have attempted to murder her own son. The papers he gave Freddy are the date and reason for a court of who should have Soren under their care. "She is demanding her son back and unfortunately, she has every right to claim him. The only thing keeping her from taking him is the detective and me. I demanded the court of a trial about the guardianship of Soren." He lets out a small sigh and explains while resting his chin in his hands. "You have to attend if you ever wish a chance to win guardianship of the boy. Oh, and Soren has to attend. His testimony might be what makes or break this whole thing."

Should have known having the two children wouldn't be that easy than simply giving them a roof over their heads. However, Freddy is willing to fight for the young boy. Not because he is a Medium but because Freddy cannot stand idly by and let an innocent child get hurt.

Not when he knows how much doing nothing can resolve in the end.

"We will come, don't worry." Askr nods and hands him a few extra papers, a quick scan reveals them to be notes about what he and detective Williams have been doing in order to keep Soren's mother away.

With the business done, Kate feels like it's about time her father meets his granddaughter. "Dad, dad come over here!" She calls.

Goldie turns away from Spring, first there he notices that not only his daughter and husband are on a visit but besides Kate is a stroller. He does not even bother with walking over, he teleports and appears right before the stroller in knelling position. The toddler in the stroller stares at him with olive wide eyes from the giant golden bear that has appeared right before her. He smiles down to the young child. "Hey, little one." He greets her quietly so as not to scare her further. He's not surprised that she keeps staring wide-eyed at him.

Turning away from the still processing toddler. "She's beautiful, not much of talker though."

Kate chuckles lightly. "Not a surprise, she's deaf like me." Ohhh, that explains it.

Goldie turns back to the child, waves hello before he signs. 'You are cute' there his granddaughter reacts and smiles, she then signs 'hello' quickly, followed by even one with hearing knows the meaning off. She lifts her hand up and jumps slightly up and down, chuckling Goldie comply and lifts the toddler up in his arms. Her small hands dig deep into the fur, like many other children, wants to touch the giant golden teddy bear as he is.

"Well, that was fast." Askr voices, Goldie glances to him and the father of his granddaughter explains. "Cressida is a rather shy child, so to see her open up this quickly is rather surprising."

Goldie laughs at this, not as loud as he usually would, can't have he scares little Cressida. "Of all the things you have seen, this:" Nodding to the toddler playing with his purple neck band. "Is what surprises you?"

"That's why I love him." Kate remarks with a smirk to her husband. Askr chuckles. She then turns back to her father. "I'm sorry you didn't see her during your last visit. Had a lot on my plate back there."

"Perhaps that was for the best. I wouldn't have been able to hold her." Goldie replies and is quite happy he can now without the risk of crushing his granddaughter.

He glances to Freddy when his adoptive brother gets up. Before he leaves though, Goldie stop him. "Come and say hello to my granddaughter."

Freddy eyes the small child and feels a bit hesitant. He likes kids but only when they are way more study than that. "I prefer older children." He replies, does give the toddler a small wave before he leaves Goldie with his biological family.

Rena and two of the Toys in form of Chiara and BonBon come over to greet Kate's and Askr's child.

The rest kept a polite distance so not to overwhelm Cressida and overcrowd the parents.

While most gushed over the baby or simply goofing around in the Game Room, Freddy pulls Soren aside and explains to the young teen what Askr told him. Soren did not look thrilled about the thought that he has to be in the same room as his mother. "I know this might be hard for you, but without your testimony. The chances of Mike gets the right to be your ward will vastly decrease." Freddy explains him calmly but in a tone that this is quite a serious matter.

Soren slowly nods, he does refuse to meet his eyes though. "I know." Freddy watches the boy quietly and is pretty sure that he had the same face back when Vincent plunged that knife into him. Freddy can easily see that Soren is scared and he does not blame the kid, he gently puts a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Facing one who has hurt you is not easy. It's okay to be scared." Soren looks as if he wants to deny it, but no word ever leaves the boy's mouth. Freddy gets down on his knees so he at least does not have to force Soren head up for their eyes to meet. "But you can't let it stop you. If you do, then the person who hurt you will win."

"But what if she tries to kill me again?" Soren asks Freddy quietly, he is scared to face the woman that should be his mother, now is one under the Twisted One thrall. "What is going to stop her finishing the job?" He highly doubts she will respect the rules inside the court, his mother is one of those people who doesn't give much of a darn on authority and he is certain that the moment she realizes he will not return to her: she will snap.

Freddy squishes his shoulder slightly, in a sign he is careful not to hurt him. "There are people there whose job is to keep that from happening, one of them is Detective Williams. But:" Freddy straightens himself up and if Soren didn't know Freddy has a friendly soul, then he would've been a bit scared of the large robot towering over him. "If it will make you feel safer, one of animatronics of your choice can go with you."

Hearing that puts Soren's mind at ease, but only for a moment as his mind now is filled with confusion. "Don't you think it would be weird if an entertainment robot came waltzing inside a courtroom?" He asks Freddy deadpan.

Freddy chuckles at his matter of fact. "We have a second form to use when leaving the restaurant." Which only makes Soren the more confused but also curious that the animatronics haven't shown all of their secrets. He does have a feeling that little secret will be shown at the court date. "Can you go with me?" He asks Freddy, not only because Freddy house a protective spirit, one he knows won't allow any harm come to those he cares about but also because he thinks the judge might come at their side if Freddy gets a chance to speak with him. The icon of the restaurant does have the charisma to makes people side with him and Soren hopes that small ability will help him in the court.

A bit surprised by the request since Freddy did expect Soren to request Goldie, however, he did say that Soren can freely choose and if he thinks having him around is best, then he will go. "Alright, I will accompany you to the hearing." Soren lets out a sigh of relief, Freddy smiles down to the boy and assures him one more time. "Don't worry, we won't let you return back to her."

"Thank you." and Soren truly means it. It feels like forever he last met such kind people and it is a breath of fresh air he has longed for from what feels like a lifetime.

* * *

 **I was at first planning that Kate and Askr didn't have children, but after my older sister gave birth, I figured I could use the new baby for possible scenes.  
Like Freddy, I don't really know what to do with the baby.**

 **so, a court, yeah not exactly what you might have expected but a raging woman won't pose much of a threat to a building filled with animatronics.**

 **I can't promise this court chapter will be 100% correct. all of it will be from papers and videos on how that stuff works.**

 **like always, suggestions or simple comments about your thoughts are always appreciated.**

 **till next time.**


	22. Chapter 22

**sorry for the long wait, my mind hasn't really been on FNAF lately and it's usually not a good idea to force chapters out if my head does not feels up to it.**

 **I had to watch several small videos that explained on how a court usually went since I have (and hopefully) never been in court before.**

 **enjoy the story!**

* * *

The court day arrived and Soren feels like a wreck thanks to the nerves hitting him like a wall as they drove to the area where the court will find place. He is, however, thankful that he has people around who wants the best for him and is willing to fight, not only for his safety but his happiness as well. Even if they got hurt doing it...

Soren watches Jeremy quietly as the blond drives them to the courthouse. The man looks exhausted and he did hear him mention to Fre— uh Sean that he hasn't gotten much sleep lately.

Soren knows exactly why Jeremy has trouble sleeping. He can sense the remnants of a dark spirit's influence surrounding the man and that troubles him. The Twisted One has returned…

Soren is scared, but for once not because Jeremy is threating to become a servant for the Twisted One. No, this fear is different, it's not fear for his own well being but for Jeremy. Soren is a bit surprised that he is afraid to lose him to the Twisted One, even if he has barely spoken to the man and only has a faint understanding of who he is as a person. What little he does know about Jeremy; is that he might be gruff and harsh in words but he seems to be a very loyal man.

Unfortunately, he cannot think about that at the moment.

They arrive at the courthouse and Soren sticks close to Mike as they walk inside.

Inside the small group meet Askr, and he now looks like a real lawyer with that grey suit he's wearing. He gives each a quick greeting and a handshake before turning to Jeremy; explaining the blond. "You will be called for a witness during the trial along with the detective."

Jeremy nods he understands and Askr then turns to Soren, his voice turns softer and understanding on how scary all of this is to the kid. "I know all of this might feel scary, more so since you are charged with kidnapping. But until you are giving the chance to tell your side of the story, I ask you to stay quiet out of politeness, understand?" Soren gives him a shakily nods. Good, and lastly to the two that more or less works as a support for the kid. "I ask the same with the two of you." He speaks to Mike and the current in his human-shape form Freddy Fazbear. "If needed, I might call one of you up for a testimony."

"We understand." Mike replies with Sean nodding besides him and since he too is quite nervous how this is going to end, he asks Askr. "How are our chances to win?"

"I am optimistic about you earning the rights to Soren if he makes it clear he took Hope away from an abusive household and he wishes you to be his ward." Askr replies and briefly glances down to Soren when the boy muses. "I want that." Askr returns back to Mike. "The only thing that could stop us is if the procecutor makes the jugde believe that it is in Soren't best interest to living with his mother."

The bailiff calls for everyone to enter the room and everyone does. Soren follows Askr— who will be his lawyer at this trial and both take a seat at one of the tables. He glances to his right and feels a chill down from his spine seeing his mother again. She looks calm and normal for common people, but for Soren, all he sees is the black cloud of the Twisted One around her. Unlike Jeremy who is fighting the black spirit, his mother looks almost like she enjoys the presence of the Twisted One and that scares him.

His mother notices him and smiles rather smugly, showing any signs that she is confident that she will win and take him so she can finish the job.

He does not hear what the prosecutor said nor the judge, his mind is clouded in a pool of fear, one he felt the very first time when his own mother snapped and began screeching at him that she should never have giving birth to him, that she was better off without him. She had grabbed the knife and before he even could put down the action figure he used to the game he had with Hope. His own mother plunged the knife deep into his stomach. The shock and soon to be horror of feeling death rapidly coming for him has been the worst thing in his entire life. He is terrified of the mere thought that he might have to go back with her, having no way of getting away from her again. He… he does not want to die… not again.

A hand on his shoulder, Soren jumps and first now realizes that he has been asked a question. "I…" He casts another glance to his smug looking mother and forces himself to look at the man— the prosecutor standing before him. The man is not what he expected, thought the person who should try and make the judge think he will be better off with his mother would be a bad person, one who did not care about him. But looking into those brown eyes, Soren realizes this man does seem to care, he's simply a man doing his job. "I didn't hear what you said..." He muses and quickly adds as Askr said he should be polite. "Sorry."

The prosecutor gives him a pitiful look and repeats his question. "Did you take your niece when you left your home?"

Soren nods slowly.

The prosecutor then turns to Jeremy who is sitting beside the judge. "Please explain the mother's reaction when she saw her niece that currently was under your care."

"She was relived like any mother," Jeremy reluctantly has to reply but before the prosecutor can speak again, he continues. "but her niece wasn't happy to see her. The poor girl leaped away as if she was approached by a snake."

"How dare you." Soren's mother sneers.

Jeremy returns the glare and the only thing keeping him from giving her an earful is because they are in a courtroom. As hoped his comment did catch the judges attention. "The girl was scared?" He nods to the woman. "Yes, ma'am. Hope was terrified and seeing such a reaction: I knew I couldn't let her aunt take her."

The judge nods and turns to the prosecutor but the man simply says.

"I have no further questions." and returns to his seat. Jeremy finds that a bit strange, there is a lot of ways the prosecutor could've turned this to the crazy bitch favor, but he's not going to argue the prosecutor made things easier for them.

Askr gets up from his seat now that it is his turn to speak. "My honor, I have the full opinion that this young boy should never be in the same room with his mother." The woman glares daggers at him and looks ready to explode but kept quiet by the prosecutor. Askr hands the judge the medical papers Scott got from the doctor that treated Soren's wound. "Soren has suffered a close to a fetal wound caused by a kitchen knife. One I fully believe was caused by his mother."

The judge looks closely at the medical papers and the pictures of the knife wound. She then turns to Soren and asks the boy. "Did your mother cause this injury on you?"

Soren nods and replies, barely a whisper. "Yes." and the judge asks. "Is that the reason why you took your niece and fled the house?"

Again he nods.

The judge looks at the medical papers again and after a moment of silence, she admits. "You are very lucky to have survived." That he agrees on, if not for Eric and Hope, he wouldn't have been able to flee the house and without the encouragement from the people of Freddy's he would've died in the hospital.

"That he is." Askr agrees. It's a wonder the kid survived really. He then hands the papers of Mike seeking the rights to become Soren's ward to the judge. "During his recovery, several people took pity one Soren and offered both him and Hope a place to stay. This man-" He gestures to Mike. "-has even gone so far to become a foster parent for the two when their current caretaker." He gestures at Jeremy. "No longer was able due to a sudden illness." The blond man shifts slightly in his seat.

The judge ponders about it for a moment, then asks. "And you think it will be in Soren's best interest that Mr. Schimdt becomes Soren and Hope's ward?"

Askr nods. "Yes, ma'am."

No longer can the man she hired to get Soren back keep her quiet. "You can't have him!" Soren's mother explodes in rage. "I am his mother! He belongs to me!"

The judge had considered allowing the mother of this child a few visits but that outburst and seeing how terrified the child has become, even the prosecutor looks rattled and she knows he's quite hard to scare. It's clear that this woman shouldn't be near the child at any point. "No, you do not own your son. It is a parent's job to nurture and cares for their child, not causing them harm as you have done. Your son will be removed from your care and if he so chooses; he can stay at Mr. Schimidt that has requested to become his ward." She eyes the boy for his word in this.

"I really would like that." Soren tells the judge, so relieved that the woman will let him stay at Freddy's.

The judge nods to him before she turns to his mother with a glare he swears can chase away a normal black spirit. "I will put a date to your next court of child abuse and attempted murder. Mike Schmidt will be granted guardianship of Soren Marica and Hope Sigal." She hits the small hammer onto the table and that is apparently the sign that the court is over. He looks up to Askr and the man smiles down to him. "We won." and Soren returns the smile with his own, so relieved he no more has to be—

"NO! He is MINE!" The mother wails in fury and lunges at Soren, hands reach out to grabs him but before she can, a broad man gets in between and shoves her away. She stumbles away, does recover quickly and enraged glares daggers at the man standing in between her and Soren. "Get out of my way! I want him! You cannot have him!"

Sean does not move an inch, he will not allow this woman to get near Soren, now that he is an official part of the family. "You have to get through me first." He growls dangerously and won't hesitate to break some of her bones if she tries to get Soren. She does look like she considered in taking the chance but is stopped by the bailiff. She is lucky that happened, for he wouldn't have hesitated to hit her if she went after Soren again. With the banshee out from the room, Sean turns to the two behind him, although he mostly asks Soren this question. "You alright?"

Soren nods but keeps his gaze on his mother that gets dragged away.

Mike leaves his seat along with Jeremy and must admit as that short confrontation was quite intense. "Good thing you decided to go with us."

Sean nods and puts a hand on Soren's shoulder. "Good thing Soren in a way predicted this might would've happened." and Mike fully agrees it is glad Soren sensed that.

Askr clears his throat to get their attention and when everyone turns to him, the man tells them. "It is alright if you leave now. I can handle the paperwork, and since Sean is part of the family; I will see if I can make a discount of my service." The man adds mostly to Sean who smirks somewhat amused by that statement.

"Thanks, for helping us so much out." Mike thanks him, doubting they would've won if not for Askr's help- oh and Nathan was a great help as well as he helped in giving the statement on how unhinged Soren's mother has been. "You too, thanks Nathan."

"You can return the favor by keeping Soren from staling from the malls." Detective Willams remarks and does chuckle at how Soren turned a shade paler by the mention of his wrongdoing. He will look past it this time, but if Soren steals again, he won't be so kind.

"Don't worry, I will." Mike promises and turns to Soren. "Let's go home." Soren smiles weakly up to him and nods. "Okay."

* * *

 **Soren is now finally part of Freddy's crew. well sort of, he and Hope aren't in the show. I do wonder if they were, would they join the Toys then? No idea but it's fun to think about.**

 **till next time.**


	23. Chapter 23

**okay, I think you guys have been waiting long enough for another chapter. I wrote this chapter mostly just to show the relationship between Soren and Theo but also got the idea from "Thedyingjokepastaway"  
so you see guys, I do take your suggestions into consideration when writing my stories.**

 **enjoy!**

* * *

It's the day where Freddy has closed for customers, allowing the building's residence to have some off time and away from the daily grind of business. However, the weather didn't agree on letting them go outside. A heavy autumn rainfall is going on, and anyone who dared to leave the building would be soaked in a matter of seconds.

That did suck, especially for two of the adults.

Mike had to go outside so he could check out that possible apartment he has set his eyes on and although only had been outside for a few seconds by leaving the car and walk over to a building, he still got soaked to the bone.

So when he returned back to Freddy, all he wanted was some dry clothing and a warm bath since the rain outside is cold thanks to the slowly approaching winter.

The second who got forced outside is Chica, but only because Soren and Theo have been thrown outside in the hope their bit out of hand game of dare would turn back down to seven.

Apparently, the cold rain didn't help at all. The two boys have gone into the small forest and not looked where they were going and thus got stuck in the mud.

Chica has no idea how long those two have been stuck inside the forest, she only found them knee-deep and unable to get free when she went outside to check on them.

So she had to pull them both out from their predicament and be careful she didn't get stuck as well. The latter was a lot harder than just avoiding the mud holes. She did get stuck, but unlike the kids, she could calculate a way out from the small muddy prison and after she got the boys free. Chica dragged herself out from the muddy area and went inside to warn everyone that the forest is off limit as long it is raining.

She didn't lecture the two boys, thinking they learned their lesson by getting stuck in the mud for at least twenty minutes. Instead, she simply told them: "Go and wash yourself up."

Theo and Soren went to the men's bathrooms to do just that and Chica went to the women. On the way, she did encounter Bonnie and knowing him not being a fan of dirt overall. She swiftly jumps over and glomps Bonnie, soaking him in muddy water.

The sound he made is hilarious.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Bonnie cries out loud, aggravated that Chica soiled him in mud, which by the way will take forever to get out. Chica keeps laughing at his misery, "what's wrong? Haven't you heard mud is good for your skin?" He does not find this funny at all "I don't have skin! Mud is terrible towards my pelt! Do you have any idea how long it will take get it all out?!"

Chica pats his head with a muddy wing. "So much worth it." and she leaves both Bonnie and the floor soaked in dirty water. She will, of course, clean up the floor, after she has cleaned herself up.

Getting the mud off is rather easy, it's not like it has dried up, that kind of mud is harder to get off. The mud Chica got will slide off her feathers with a good stream of water.

Bonnie is such a girl when it comes to his appearance.

Chica leaves the shower and when sure she won't drip water and leave a further mess, she heads over to the cleaning closet to remove the mud she left when she pulled that small prank on Bonnie.

Speaking of the devil and he shall appear. Bonnie emerges from the bathroom with not a single sign he was covered in mud not long ago. Still looks grumpy though.

"Why are Soren and Theo taking so long?" Chica asks in wonder to why the two boys haven't left the bathroom as she can still clearly hear them argue in a way only children can.

"They are busier arguing who was at fault getting stuck in the forest than actually caring about getting cleaned up." Bonnie replies and before she asks why she didn't stop them. "There's no malice in their argument, just two boys trying to show they are right." He shrugs. "You know how stupidly stubborn boys can be."

Chica nods, she knows that rather well. She is after all the girlfriend to the one who does those silly boy arguments with a certain fox. Not sure if they have gotten better or worse after they got more advanced awareness. Before she can answer him though, Soren speeds out from the bathroom, closely followed by Theo, and again, before she can warn them that the floor is slippery, both the two boys slip and crash right into Bonnie who falls flat to the floor, right into the dirty water pool.

"Fucking hell!" Bonnie swears loudly, and the two boys, at the same time realize they are in trouble, points at the other, "he started it!"

"I don't care who started, you both are going to clean this mess up!" Bonnie retorts back to the boys and grumpily gets up, thanks to them, he has to wash himself up… again! He takes the mob from Chica, who looks both startled and amused by this whole scene. The mob he hands to Theo and commands Soren to get another mob and a bucket.

Soren and Theo do as told, well aware he will make them do more if they as much open their mouths.

Bonnie does step away when they start on the chore and Chica, in a quiet voice remarks. "Let's hope this will make them stop on this childish spat they have going."

Bonnie merely shrugs, he knows from experience that those two will probably have this rivalry for a while. "Somehow I doubt it. Soren and Theo are both headstrong brats. They might stop for now, but soon we are back to all of this again."

"Well, at least we always have a lot of things needed to be done if they end up causing too much trouble." Chica giggles while letting her gaze over to the two boys. They are talking to one another, but all she can hear is their muffled voices.

Bonnie heard what they said though and is quite amused and impressed. "Well, they aren't exactly like me and the mutt. They know when to make peace." He grins down to Chica, for the two have agreed to make a truce; with Theo getting the last of Soren's game coin and Soren got the Wii downstairs for the rest of the day.

"Smart move," Chica remarks and he cannot agree more for he had already prepared himself to separate them if they had kept going like he and Foxy so often do.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

After they have finished cleaning up the floor, Soren hands Theodore the last game coin he has and leaves to play downstairs. He does stop when the bear points out. "I could still have beat you up, you know." and now that he's no longer geared up in this stupid 'I'm better than you game' and calm enough to think logical. Then yes, if they got into a fistfight, Theodore will absolutely win, even if he has been human like him. "Alright, I admit that. You would, but-" He smirks smugly to the other boy. "-you would have to catch me first." Soren is more than confident that he can outrun Theodore any day.

Theo let's out a snort but does not argue that he can run Soren down as he does not need air. He doesn't, but only because Soren gave him the last coin he would need to get the prize from the prize corner. The adults only allow them to take stuff from there if they have enough of the winning tickets from the arcades.

He leaves the Medium and steps over to his favorite arcade game. As he plays, Theo anger fades and he can admit to himself that even though Soren can be incredibly annoying with that smugness, he won't beat him up and it has nothing to do with the fear of punishment.

No, he won't cuz Soren… well, he is part of the family and Theo knows that family does not beat other up. If they do, then in his eyes they are not part of his family.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 _He charges into the door, breaking on impact and the door slides a few meters into this darkened room. A figure, hiding in the shadows moves, making sure it's out from his sight. Goldie does not care about that one, the spirit residing inside that robot is not worth his attention. Only one is and he won't leave before he has what he wants. "Nightmare!" He roars out, well aware his 'sister' can hear him. "Come out and face me!"_

 _Shadows of massive monster forms in the darkness, two piercing red eyes appear along with a large mouth filled with long sharp teeth. "_ ** _Aww, is little Fredbear here to save his friend?"_** _The monster babytalk down to him, which did not help on his anger of what Nightmare has done._

 _Goldie glares up to her, this time he is not afraid of the monster, the need to save his friend is greater. "I won't let you keep him!"_

 _Nightmare approaches him and when she is close enough to touch him, the monster asks smugly. "_ ** _And what are you going to do about it? We both know you do not have the strength to fight me."_**

 _Yes, he is very aware of that. Unlike Twisted One who is only one soul, Nightmare is a mass of souls and therefore stronger, but this spirit hoarding witch has forgotten one crucial detail, one he is planning on using it against her._

 _Focusing his powers, those he unintentional was giving when Nightmare struck him the first time they met, he punches Nightmare right in the face. She jerks, if it's from pain or simply because he was able to strike her, he does not know. Only that it got her attention._

 ** _"You dare…"_** _Nightmare's form shimmer for a second before the monster towers over him, the form twisting like the ocean in a heavy storm._ ** _"You dare to strike me?! Do you know who I am?!"_** _She demands in rage, the whole room seems to shake by the monster's emotions._ **"I am the nightmare, the beast that no one can _escape!"_** _and Nightmare strikes, chomping her long teeth into Goldie's head. Even though she does not have taken her current vessel's form, she is more than strong enough to affect the living world and Goldie topples to the floor by the mere might of Nightmare._

 _He can feel her reaching for the seal that keeps his soul attached to this body, he knows if she succeeds, he will be swallowed and most likely trapped in the vortex that forms this monster. Goldie isn't really sure if Nightmare is strong enough to break Marion's seal, but if she is, then he will be lost along with the rest. Marion did tell them that when Nightmare strike, he has a window of opportunity to defeat her._

 _The second he senses the lost souls Nightmare has trapped in her very being, he reaches out, calling for the one Nightmare shouldn't have claimed. Fortunately, the soul hasn't been fully broken to a state of Stockholm syndrome like most of these lost souls and comes to him the second they realized he has come for them. To Goldie's surprise, several other of these seemly mindless souls come to his call; like a moth to a flame, they are attached to his positive aura. This not only gave him the boost to tear Nightmare away and stop her from consuming his soul but give her one hell of a beating she soon won't forget._

 _He slams the shocked monster to the floor, glaring into her wide red eyes with his own that glows from the power these lost souls grant him._

 _Thanks to them, he is equal in strength to his 'sister.' Well at least until she figures out how to put all her souls back into one being again._

 ** _"Let this be my only warning Nightmare,"_** _he snarls down to her._ ** _"if I ever hear you try and claim another soul- if you ever hurt my family! I will tear you apart!"_** _It is a bit of an empty threat as he does not know if he can separate all of these souls that make up her being, but he hopes this beat down will make her back off once and for all. He gets up and along with his friend, leaves the place Nightmare is currently calling home._

 _He was planning on going back home, but at a park, he realizes that he won't return with the soul he intended. He slowly turns around to the soul, thanks to the power giving by the others, able to see the other side._

 _The soul gives him a smile, a thankful but also one saying that this… well this is goodbye._

 _Goldie is a bit confused by this. "You don't want to be like us?" He asks quietly._

 _The soul shakes their head 'I do not have a reason to stay anymore.' Turns around and leaves, but does stop and tells him somberly 'I'm grateful to have been part of this family.'_

 _Goldie smiles weakly to the soul, yet unable to hold back the tears. "Me too" and with a wave. "See you on the other side, friend." The soul nods and disappears, to a place not even a Medium can see or know leads to. All Goldie knows that this doorway will only appear to a soul that is ready to move on, and one day, it will appear again to him and when that happens..._

 _He will be ready._

 _Goldie bows his head in the respect that his friend did something he had been afraid to do. "Goodbye, old friend" and with that, he teleports home to give the others the news._

* * *

 **I honestly didn't think this flashback shouldn't happen as it made me rather sad, but after have recently lost a family member (we weren't close) I decided this has to happen, even though I am going to hate myself for doing it.**


End file.
